240 



The World's Commercial Products 



-of the leaves to allow of the penetration of the sun. Generally, however, the ripe bunches 

 are cut from the vine, and then placed in the sun on sloping floors until the fruit is sufficiently 

 -cured. In Asia Minor the drying is retarded by sprinkling the bunches with oil, thereby reduc- 

 ing evaporation, and this process is said to preserve the fruit in transit. When dry the fruit 

 is carefully graded, and either packed in fancy boxes, as in the case of muscatels, or else exported 

 iin bulk'. The pick of the market comes to London. (See article on " Fruits.") 



WINE-MAKING 



The primary purpose of viticulture, however, is the manufacture of wine. Briefly put, 

 the process consists in allowing the juice of the grapes to ferment under certain conditions, 

 when it undergoes fundamental changes, and is converted into wine, the varieties of which 



are as numerous as the methods employed in producing 

 them. In the preparation of red wine the grapes are 

 taken into cellars, the temperature of which can be 

 carefully regulated. In former days the next stage 

 was to place the vintage into an enormous bowl and 

 allow the grapes to be pressed by men dancing on 

 them. The obvious objection to such a process has 

 led to the employment of machinery, and in all large 

 wine factories at the present time the grapes are 

 passed between horizontal cylinders which press out 

 the juice without crushing the stones. The expressed 

 juice, or " must," as it is called, is collected in bowls 

 and allowed to ferment, a process which consists 

 essentially of the conversion of the sugar of the 

 grape into alcohol and carbonic acid gas, the change 

 being brought about by a unicellular organism closely 

 allied to the yeast plant. The fermentation is most 

 vigorous at a temperature of about 20° C, and the 

 more favourable the conditions of temperature and the 

 larger the quantity of must, the quicker the process is 

 completed ; depending upon these conditions it may 

 be from twenty-four hours to eight days before the 

 process is completed. At the height of the fermentation 

 the liquor is in a condition of considerable commotion, 

 and if the stalks of the bunches have been left in the 

 bowls the whole mass rises to the surface. Sooner or 

 later, however, the turbulence subsides, the stalks sink to the bottom, and the liquor becomes 

 coloured and acquires an alcoholic flavour ; when the fermentation has completely ceased the 

 first wine or " vin de goutte " is drawn off. The colour and flavour of the wine depends upon 

 the length of time the must is allowed to remain in the bowls, but as soon as the required 

 oondition is reached the wine is transferred to barrels, the lees being kept back by means of a 

 sieve. The lees are not discarded, however, for out of them, by successive pressings, wines of 

 inferior quality are made. These wines are of sharp flavour, and are generally casked 

 separately from the " vin de goutte." 



There are numerous varieties of red wine, and they are made in all vine-growing countries. 

 The French red wines especially are highly valued, and of their excellence there can be but 

 one opinion. Among the red wines of Burgundy may be cited those of Musigny, Richebourg, 

 Romanee, Chambertin, Corton, Beaune des Hospices, Pommard, Volnay, Alios du Roy, and 

 Clos de Vougeot. The Clos de Vougeot is one of the most highly prized of the products of 



OIDIUM ATTACKING THE GRAPES 



