326 GRAPE CULTURE AND 



by taking the wine from the pomace sooner, as indicated be- 

 fore. If the rough wine has only astringency, without bitter- 

 ness or excessive acid, it will improve very much by age, and 

 it is safe to leave it alone. Judicious blending is often very 

 valuable also, as for instance blending the wine which may be 

 very rough, but contain little acid, with dark color, with one 

 that is deficient in tannin, but has abundance of acid, and 

 lacks color. 



Sourness. Is generally caused by a too prolonged fermen- 

 tation on the skins, or appears in wines that were " stuck" in 

 fermentation. It shows* acetic acid in the wine, and if this 

 is present in any marked degree, so as to become at once per- 

 ceptible to the nose or tongue, the best course is to distil such 

 wines ; they are hardly worth the trouble of doctoring, and 

 will never be quite sound again. It is also caused by ex- 

 posure to the air from looseness of the bung, and from using 

 soured casks, which impart it at once. If all these are avoided, 

 as they should be in a well regulated cellar, there will be no 

 milksour, nor pricked wine. Some authors recommend neu- 

 tralizing the acidity with chalk or marble dust, but my advice 

 to the reader is, to leave these unwholesome practices alone, 

 turn your pricked wine into vinegar and brandy, and resolve 

 to have no more of it in future. 



Weakness. We are not troubled with this here, if we plant 

 the proper varieties. If we have some, however, the proper 

 remedy is to blend with a heavy, full wine, or to add alcohol 

 or grape brandy, from one to two quarts to each 100 gallons. 



Flatness, Mouldiness, or Flowers. These only appear in 

 neglected or weak wines, and will seldom be found in well 

 regulated cellars, or in wines properly made and handled. 

 They generally go together, and are the consequence of ex- 

 posure to air. If the bung is frequently removed, and the 

 cask not kept well filled, the vacuum becomes filled with im- 

 pure air, and the wine degenerates, forming a white film or 



