116 



The Grape Culturist. 



THE CHEMISTRY OF WINE. 



BY CHAS. H, FRINGS. 



{ConUmi^d .) 



Except alcohol, acids, gl^^cerine^ 

 and flavor, there is nothing contained 

 in the must which may be classified 

 among the wine-making substances. 

 We van regulate the alcohol and acids. 

 Glycerine is formed from the sugar, 

 thus onl}' the flavors remain, of which 

 the inexperienced believe that they 

 are contained in lesser proportions in 

 a must increased \>jii solution of sugar, 

 than in a so-called natural must. 



We have already, in a former part 

 of this article, defined the diff'erence 

 between "general flavors" and bou- 

 quet. The first are formed by oenanth 

 ether, which is contained in the must in 

 such quantities, that a barrel of it con- 

 tains enough to flavor twenty barrels 

 of wine to a sufficient degree. Bou- 

 quet is also formed from ether, which 

 can only then be developed to its 

 greatest perfection when the different 

 ingredients of the must have been 

 regulated to their proper proportions. 

 Neither those wines which are too 

 sweet, nor those which contain too 

 mucli acid, will develop as fine a bou- 

 quet as those which are neither the 

 one nor the other. 



All the experiences ot the latter 

 years serve to demonstrate that, the 

 musts, regulated b}' proper addition 

 of sugar and water, furnish Mnnes of 

 finer bouquet than the so-called natural 

 wines of the same season, from the 

 same locations, and the same varieties 

 of grapes. Those who wish to con- 

 vince themselves of this, can easily do 

 so, if thev ferment the husks of so- 



called natural must with a solution of 

 20 per cent, of sugar and water. The 

 wine thus made will have a much finer 

 and stronger bouquet than that first 

 pressed, without any addition. All 

 the wines made from varieties of the 

 Fox grape will likewise develop a 

 much finer and more pleasant bouquet 

 if they have been increased b}* addi- 

 tion of sugar and water. The foxy 

 flavor is very similar to cenanth 

 ether in this respect ; both are only 

 pleasant and agreeable, if contained 

 in the wine in verj- small proportions^ 

 and strongly diluted. 



As to the ferment necessary, our 

 American grapes contain sufficient to 

 ferment at least treble the amount re- 

 quired, so that the assertion, "that 

 the juice of grapes cannot bear any 

 addition without at the same time 

 losing wine-making ingredients," is 

 entirely without foundation. 



On the contrarj', we find that all 

 wines in which the proportions have 

 been reasonably adjusted and regu- 

 lated, are much better than the so- 

 called natural wines. 



Experiments on an extended scale 

 have been made to this end in Ger- 

 many and France. Samples of ra- 

 tionally improved wines from poor 

 locations have been put among a num- 

 ber of samples of fine natural wines 

 from the best locations, and the ex- 

 perts who were to judge them, wei'e 

 unable to distinguish them. The 

 celebrated Johannisberg Cabinet, 

 which formerl}' stood at the head of 



