240 



The Grape Culturist. 



better come and see it there. Dela- 

 ware has also an enormous crop on 

 light, rich soil. Concord will give a 

 fair average crop, so will Herbemont ; 

 Clinton and Hartford a very abundant 



one, and Catawba a very light crop. 

 In the September number we hope to 

 give our readers a more complete state- 

 ment, and hope to receive information 

 from other parts of the Union. — [Ed. 



THE CHEMISTRY OF WINE. 



By Chas. H. Frings. 



{Continued.) 



Ether we call a thin and A-ery volatile 

 fluid, of very pregnant flavor, which is 

 developed by the action of acids upon 

 alcohol. Thus, by the action of sul- 

 phuric acid upon alcohol, sulphuric 

 ether is produced ; by the action of 

 acetic acid upon alcohol^ vinegar ether, 

 etc. 



The action of the acids and alcohol 

 contained in a certain fluid is just as 

 regular and certain in its results as the 

 action of acids upon alkalies. The re- 

 sults can, however, be hastened or de- 

 ferred by change of temperature. When 

 fermentation has been thorough and 

 complete, no new ethereals are formed 

 in the wine, unless the balance is de- 

 stroyed, and the proportions changed 

 again by other causes. This will, how- 

 ever, often happen with wine. Evapora- 

 tion through the casks, change of 

 temperature, filling up with other wine, 

 but more than anything else, the cut- 

 ting and mixing of different wines will 

 have this result. It always takes some 

 time, therefore, especially after the last 

 named process, before the mixed wine 

 attains the bouquet it will eventually 

 retain. 



The general result maj^ be summed 

 up thus : Whenever a larger proportion 

 of acids and alcohol are added, the 



ethereal qualities, or the bouquet, will 

 be inci'eased ; if the acids and alcohol 

 are reduced, the bouquet will also be 

 reduced. 



Take it all in all, the quantity of the 

 ethereal substances thus formed is very 

 small. It varies between 1-10, 000th 

 and l-30,000th part of the weight of the 

 wine. They exercise, however, even in 

 these homoeopathic solutions, a great 

 influence, not alone upon the taste, but 

 also upon the flavor of the wine. 



Unfortunately we cannot fully deter- 

 mine the nature of these material in- 

 gredients of wine. Had we a medium 

 to assist our sense of smell in the same 

 manner as we can assist our sight by 

 the aid of tbe microscope, it would be 

 an easy task to imitate the flavor of the 

 most celebrated bouquet wines. As we 

 have not such a medium, we can only 

 try to reach it by combining and add- 

 ing, instead of analyzing, until a lucky 

 accident will bring about some great 

 discovery. 



Great progress has alreadj^ been 

 made in this science^ which is proved 

 by the many different ethereals of fruit 

 we already have, by which the flavor of 

 apples, pears, oranges, pine-apples, etc., 

 is so closely imitated. 



(To be continued.) 



