204 



The Grape Cultiirist. 



is this : the alcohol is oxydized and 

 forms aldehyd, then acetic acid, when 

 the wine is soured and turns to vine- 

 gar. Chemically speaking; the change 

 occurs thus : 

 Alcohol. Oxygen. Aldebyd. Water. 



Qi H« O- + 0- — C H* 0- + 2 HO 



In the fii'st place a chemical equiva- 

 lent of alcohol endures the action of 2 

 equivalents of oxygen, the product 

 being one equivalent of aldehyd plus 

 2 equivalents of water. The aldeh^'d 

 being produced, it in turn absorbs 2 

 more equivalents of oxygen and forms 

 acetic acid. 



Aldehyd. Oxygen. Acetic Acid. 



(J4H4 Q2_j_02— C*H^ O^ 



This change meets with no diffi- 

 culty, even at an ordinar}^ tempera- 

 ture, and a few drops of wine left over 

 night in a wine bottle will satisf}" 

 those vintners who have not as yet 

 observed this transformation. 



The fact that the free admission of 

 air, by oxydizing the gluten, would 

 soon clear wine, had not escaped my 

 observations; but I was also aware 

 that there was no better or more cer- 

 tain wa}^ to make vinegar, this aerifi- 

 cation being always accomplished at 

 the expense of the quality of the wine, 

 which soon loses, when prolonged, its 

 oil}' or velvety feeling, its vinous 

 aroma and smoothness ; and without 

 this last and precious quality wine can 

 have no charm nor worth. This is 

 why, since my essay was read before 

 the Nauvoo Grape and Wine Growers' 

 Club, in the winter of 1868, I have 

 found but few reasons to alter my 

 views, except perhaps on rule 5, and 

 that only in special circumstances, 

 such as the need of quick sales re- 



gardless of quality, or when the first 

 fermentation has been very imperfect 

 or sluggish, otherwise it is always to 

 be feared that the quality of the wine 

 will suffer. For these same reasons I 

 would be loath to discard my rules 6 

 and 7 : who is it that has not wit- 

 nessed the fact when drawing wine, 

 that a bucket left exposed over night,, 

 or only a few hours, had contracted a 

 flat, vapid or insipid flavor, quite dis- 

 agreeable to the taste ? 



Wine, when properl}' fermented in 

 the start, needs but few rackings to 

 insure its stability. When I advanced 

 that two rackings well done were suffi- 

 cient for the first 3'ear, I in no way 

 meant to imply there should be na 

 more rackings afterward, to free it 

 from the fermentescible matter : I 

 hold, on the contraty, that there 

 should be more, and at least one fin- 

 ing before bottling. 



Owing to the presence of carbonic 

 acid, wine can stand a number of 

 rackings; bttt these should be quick, 

 and with faucets that will not spit, but 

 flow in an unbroken column, then the 

 evaporation of this acid is slow, and 

 in like proportion excludes the absorp- 

 tion of oxygen; but the rose of a water- 

 ing pot, being just the thing to free the 

 carbonic acid, must be a dangerous 

 tool to rack wine with, unless it be 

 one that has as j^et fermented but lit- 

 tle, and has consequently next to no 

 alcohol ; otherwise, was not the quan- 

 tity of oxygen required to make 

 acetic acid large, it would make vine- 

 gar at once. 



It is these facts which have sug- 

 gested, in Europe, so many different 

 means of racking wine with the exclu- 

 sion of air. But whilst wine fears 



