WINE MAKING. 



to the lasting gratitude of bis countrymen. This 

 gentleman, who now owns in the vicinity of 

 i ..ati 122| acres in vineyards, cultivated 



tenants ays, "I have lor 30 years 

 experimented on the foreign grape, both for the 

 table and for wine. In the acclimation of 

 plants, I do not believe ; for the White Sweet 

 Water does not succeed as well with me, as it 

 did 30 years since. I obtained a large variety 

 .ch grapes, from Mr. Loubat, many years 

 They were from the vicinities of Paris 

 and Bordeaux. From Madeira I obtained 6000 

 vines of their best wine grapes. Not one was 

 found worthy of cultivation in this latitude, and 

 were rooted from the vineyards. As a last ex- 

 periment, I imported 7000 vines from the moun- 

 tains of Jura, in the vicinity of Saiins, in France. 

 At that point the vine region suddenly ends, 

 am) many vines are there cultivated on the north 

 side of the mountain, where the ground is co- 

 vered with snow the whole winter, from 3 to 4 

 feet deep. Nearly all lived, and embraced about 

 twenty varieties of the most celebrated wine- 

 grapes of France. But after a trial of five years, 

 all have been thrown away. I also imported 

 samples of wine made from all the grapes. 

 One variety alone, the celebrated Arbois wine, 

 which partakes slightly of the Champagne cha- 

 racter, would compete with our Catawba. If 

 we intend cultivating the grape for wine, we 

 must rely on our native grapes, and new varieties 

 raised from their seed. If I could get my lease 

 of life renewed for twenty or thirty years, I 

 would devote my attention to the subject, and 

 I would cross our best native varieties with the 

 bett table and wine grapes of Europe. I have 

 heretofore wanted faith in the doctrine of French 

 liturists, that to improve your stock of 

 pear*, you must not select the seed of the finest 

 fruit, but of the natural choke-pear. I am half 

 converted to their views. The Catawba is 

 clearly derived from the common Fox grape. 

 In raising from its seed, even white ones are 

 produced, but I have not seen one equal to the 

 parent plant ; and in all, the white down on the 

 under side of the leaf, and the hairs on the 

 stalk, common to the wild Fox grape, are abun- 

 dant." 



The Catawba, which has led the way in Ame- 

 rica to the production of wines calculated to 

 compete with the finer vintages of Europe, at 

 present stands without a rival as a wine grape. 

 It makes an excellent sparkling wine, resembling 

 sparkling Mo*elle,and also a good, dry Hock. It's 

 colour varies from almost clear water to straw co- 

 lour and pink, and it possesses a fine fruity flavour, 

 and most grateful aroma. It requires no sugar 

 in fermentation when the grapes are well ripened. 

 It is but justice to one of the most persevering 

 pioneers in the grape culture and wine making 

 in the United States, Major Adlum, of the District 

 of Columbia, to say that he had long since enter- 

 tained the most exalted views in regard to the 

 valuable qualities presented by the Catawba 

 grape. T n a letter to Mr. Longworth he says 

 " In bringing this grape into public notice, I have 

 rendered my country a greater service than I 

 would have done, had I paid off the National 



bt ; and Mr. Longworth expresses his con- 

 currence in this enthusiastic estimate. 



In regard to the present cost of making wine 

 n th* valley of the Ohio, Mr. Buchanan states, , 

 from his own experience, that when done by 

 hired labour, the gathering, pressing, and filling 



WINE MAKING. 



the juice into casks, comes to an average of $25 

 to $30 per acre. It is the German emigrants 

 who make wine to greatest profit, as the most 

 of the work is done by their wives and daughters. 

 The largest profits will accrue to those who 

 bring into requisition the most intelligence and 

 skill, who take care to have the fruit gathered 

 when fully ripe, the green and decayed berries 

 picked out, (from which by the addition of 8 or 

 10 ounces of sugar to the gallon, wine of an 

 inferior quality may be made,) who use a clean 

 press, clean casks, a cool cellar from which the 

 external air can be excluded, who, during the 

 period of fermentation, which continues from 

 two to four weeks, attend to keeping the casks 

 filled td 1 within four or five inches of the bung, 

 (which last must be put on loosely,) and racking 

 off at the proper time in spring, always keeping 

 the casks after fermentation, full and air-tight, 

 never bottling till 4 or 5 years old, and finally 

 selling without their names in seasons when 

 wine is not of the best quality. 



The great secret, for such it has been gener- 

 ally kept among wine-makers of producing 

 an effervescing wine, consists simply in mixing 

 the wine of the new vintage with wine of the 

 previous vintages, half and half. 



Although 400 and even over 600 gallons of 

 wine per acre have been occasionally obtained 

 from Ohio vineyards in some very favourable 

 seasons and situations, Mr. Buchanan sets down 

 the average produce of an acre (containing 2420 

 vines, planted 3 by 6 feet apart), in fair seasons 

 at 300 to 400 gallons. A probable average for 

 8 or 10 years, with but little rot, would be 250 

 gallons. And with a reasonable allowance for 

 loss by rot, frosts, &c., 200 gallons might beset 

 down as a fair average. 



A bushel of grapes on the stem will yield 

 from 3 to 3| gallons of juice. Some have yielded 

 4 gallons, but this is rare. In measuring, the 

 bushel is " heaped," or liberally rounded on the 

 top. A recapitulation of Mr. Buchanan's state- 

 ments would give the costs and profits of an 

 Ohio vineyard as follows : 



Cost of the vineyard per acre, say $250, 



interest per annum 15.00 



Cost of attendance per acre .... 60.00 



Cost of making the wine 25.00 



$100.00 



Probable average annual product : 

 200 gals, of wine, at, say $1.00 . . . $200.00 



Supposed profit per annum .... $100.00 



A press capable of expressing from 160 to 300. 

 gallons per day, will cost $60 to $150 the ves- 

 sels $10 to $15, and the casks from 4 to 8 cts. 

 per gallon, according to size and quality. The 

 loss in quantity in making the wine, by fermen- 

 tation, lees in racking, and by evaporation, is 

 about 10 per cent. See VINE. 



The experiment of letting the grapes, after 

 being mashed, ferment in the skins slightly before 

 pressing, has been found to afford some advan- 

 tages. The mashed grapes are allowed to stand 

 in large open hogsheads, for 24 to 30 hours, or 

 until they begin to ferment, and the grapes rise 

 to the surface. They are then pressed. Too 

 much fermentation in this state would be inju- 

 rious, and give a bitter, astringent taste to the 

 wine ; but a slight fermentation adds to the 

 colour and aroma. 



