2 he Chemistry of Wine. 



117 



Rhenish wines, has lost its former 

 pi'oiid position, because Pi'ince Metter- 

 nich is obstinatel}" opposed to the 

 later advancements of science, and 

 refuses to be benefited hj them. 



The " Grumberg " in Silesia, of 

 which the story goes, that those who 

 drink it must be awakened a couple of 

 times during the night, and turn 

 around, so that its sharp acid did not 

 destroy their entrails, is now a ver}' 

 good wine, and the sparkling made 

 from it is considered the equal of the 

 best sparkling Hock. 



That these improvements in wine- 

 making should meet with a strong 

 opposition, is but natural, and easily 

 explained. In Germany, their strong- 

 est opponents were, and are yet, those 

 who are in possession of the most re- 

 nowned locations, thought they had a 

 monoj)ol3^ upon the wine trade, and 

 could, under the old condition of 

 things, so much easier obtain enor- 

 mous prices for their products, as the 

 wines from less favored locations 

 were hardly saleable except in vqyj 

 favorable seasons. This has changed 

 entirel}^. We find no longer those 

 sour, unpalatable wines in Germany ; 

 and the poor vineyardists on the Mo- 

 selle, Avho alread}^ despaii-ed of their 

 ungrateful soil, which so poorly re- 

 warded all their toil, are now again 

 gladdened by sure returns, as the doc- 

 trine of rational wine has made them 

 more independeut of the freaks of na- 

 ture and the weather, which formerly' 

 gave them only one saleable crop in 

 five or six years. 



But although the vast importance 

 of these improvements can not be de- 

 nied, and have become established 

 facts, there yet remains a class, who 



stubbornly close their eyes, and fight 

 against them like Don Quixotte of 

 yore against the windmills. How- 

 ever, they cannot stay the march of 

 progress. The Prussian Agricultural 

 Council have already several years 

 ago, by an enlightened document, pro- 

 tested against the passage of laws 

 prohibiting the improvement of must, 

 and even the courts have sanctioned 

 the progress in wine making. The 

 court at Brudisal gave, even as early 

 as 1859, the following verdict : 



1. Every Avine is in so far an artifi- 

 cial product, as no ivine is produced 

 by nature, but only the product of the 

 grape-vine, which is made and fer- 

 mented by human skill and activity, 

 and only through their help becomes 

 wine. 



2. There is nothing contained in 

 gallized wines which is foreign to the 

 ingredients of good wine ; on the 

 contraiy, by the addition of sugar 

 and water, ingredients which must be 

 in every must, the unfavorable pro- 

 portions between acid, sugar and 

 water are equalized and reduced to 

 such proportions as should exist in 

 every good wine. 



3. Those ingredients added to the 

 must by gallizing are not injui'ious to 

 health, nor do they take from the 

 wine any of its health- pronwting 

 qualities. 



4. Therefore, gallized wine is not 

 an artificial surrogate of natural wine, 

 but on the contrary, b}' gallizing of 

 sour or inferior musts a wine is pro- 

 duced which is fully equal to the wines 

 of medium quality. 



This was the verdict ten years ago, 

 in a German court of law. 



At the present day, when experi- 



