WINE MAKING. 



Mr. Longworth states that it is a very great 

 error in wine making, to have the grapes gath- 

 ered too soon, and before the saccharine princi- 

 ple is fully developed. The richness of the wine 

 is estimated by the weight of the must or fresh 

 juice, the average of the least being 95 deg. on 

 the scale of the Hydrometer. He states that 

 in the neighbourhood of Cincinnati he found 

 some from well matured fruit which weighed 101, 

 whilst that of other vineyards weighed only 

 from 65 to 80. He says that he would rather 

 pay 75 cts. per gallon fox must weighing 95, 

 than 5 cts. for that which weighs only 75. 



Fermentation. The casks are to be filled up 

 till within 3 or 4 inches of the bung, and this 

 is to be put in loosely. The gas escapes without 

 the wine running over. Usually in 2 to 4 

 weeks the fermentation ceases, and the wine be- 

 comes clear ; then fill up the casks and tighten 

 the bungs. 



In February or March, rack off the wine into 

 clean casks. A second but moderate fermenta- 

 tion will take place late in the spring, after 

 which the wine becomes clear and is rra<!y for 

 sale. If the casks are kept well filled, and the 

 blinds Tight, it will improve for many years. 

 Use no brandy or sugar if the grapes are sound 

 and well ripened. 



It was a long time disputed whether alcohol 

 existed already formed in the wine, or whether 

 it was developed through the application of heat 

 in distillation. Gay-Lu<sac sucrrnl.-d in ex- 

 tracting alcohol from wine in a vacuum at the 

 tempi-ratine of 59 df<r. Fahrenheit, thus demon- 

 strating that it was not developed by the heat 

 used in distillation. 



When it is necessary to add sugar to grape 

 jnire, experience has proved in France that 

 ptucose, or the sugar made from starch, is to be 

 preferred, since it more resembles that of the 

 grape than the sugar made from the cane or the 

 beet. Sugar ought, houvver, never to be added 

 except with the greatest caution and judgment, 

 being apt to make the wine thick, flat, and acid. 

 Although it may increase the proportion of alco- 

 hol, the quality of the wine will never equal that 

 of good seasons, when sugar can be dispensed 

 with. Some add alcohol instead of sugar to the 

 fermenting must. But although this may fur- 

 nish the wine with strength, it will never be 

 equal to that in which sugar has been used. 



The safest way of keeping the wine is in 

 bottles well corked and sealed, and placed on 

 their sides. The fewer rackings it receives, 

 and the less exposure to the air, the sweeter and 

 better it will keep. The bottling may take 

 place one year after racking, although better de- 

 ferred till the lapse of 2 years. Never bottle 

 before the second fermentation, which takes place 

 in the spring succeeding the vintage, unless it is 

 where the sparkling quality is desired, which, 

 as has been already stated, is imparted by mix- 

 ing the wine of the new with that of an old vin- 

 tage. The fining of wine can be done to the 

 gieatest perfection by bottling or racking off 

 during the very coldest weather in winter, at which 

 time it will of course deposit most of its solu- 

 ble materials. This was an important secret, 

 kept and practised upon with great success by a 

 celebrated Philadelphia wine merchant. 



Consumption of Wines in Gnat Britain and 

 the United Slates. The importations of wine 

 into tks United Kingdom of Great Britain in 

 146 



WINNOWING-MACHINE. 



1849, amounted to 7,970,067 galls., and the in- 

 crease in the home consumption, compared with 

 the previous year, was 115,315 galls. The pro- 

 portions in which the various wines were con- 

 sumed in England in the year 1849, are stated as 

 follows : Of the total amount drank, Cape con- 

 stituted 3-87 per cent. ; French, 5-30; Portugal, 

 42-36 ; Spanish, 39-16 ; Madeira, 1-14 ; Rhenish, 

 0-74; Canary, 0-32; Sicilian and other sorts 

 fiom the Mediterranean, 7-11 ; total, 100-00. 



As nearly all the wine imported in the United 

 States is consumed at home, the following state- 

 ment will show the proportions of various wines 

 consumed, and consequently exhibit the Ame- 

 rican taste. 



The values of the different wines imported 

 into the United States in one year, namely, from 

 July 1st, 1847, to July 1st, 1848, were as follows : 



Thus it appears that the English taste runs 

 mainly upon Port and Sherry, which constitute 

 81 i per cent, of all the wines they drink. Their 

 consumption of French wines, or Claret and 

 Champagne, amounts to only 5-30 per cent., 

 and of Madeira to only 1-14 pel cent. In the 

 United States, on the contrary, the French 

 wines, including Champagne and Claret, consti- 

 tute over 56 per cent, of the value of all the wines 

 consumed, Port and Sherry 19, Madeira about 

 1-64, and Claret and other red wines alone, 36. 



WINE-PRESS. The one most commonly 

 used near Cincinnati is made somewhat like a 

 " Screw Cider Press." The screw, which is of 

 iron, and about 3 or 4 inches in diameter, is 

 placed either in a strong upright frame, or 

 coming up through the centre of the platform, 

 the last plan being the cheapest and most sim- 

 ple. A strong, tight, box platform, 6 or 7 feet 

 square, made of 2 or 3 inch plarik 6 or 8 inches 

 high at the sides, is wedged into heavy timbers, 

 and, in this, a box of 1^ inch boards, 5 or 6 feet 

 square, perforated with holes near the lower 

 edge, 8 or 10 inches high at the sides (made so 

 as readily to be taken apart), is placet! to contain 

 the grapes. Boards to fit loosely inside of this 

 box, and lie on top of the pile of mashed 

 grapes (or the " cheese"), and pieces of scantling, 

 to lay across to receive the pressure, complete 

 the press. The pressing power is applied by 

 a strong lever attached to the nut or female 

 screw, and the juice runs out through a hole. 



WINNOWING-MACHINE. A contrivance 

 employed for separating, by an artificial cur- 

 rent of air, the chaff from the grain, after it 

 has been thrashed out of the straw. Various 

 are the accounts (remarks Mr. J. A. Ransome 

 in his Treatise on the Implements of Agriculture) 

 given of the introduction of this machine, and 

 many of the claimants for the credit of having 

 been the first maker of this piece of mechan- 



1161 



