170 GRAPE CULTURE AND WINE-MAKING. 



ed by itself into barrels; tlie former making a wine of the first 

 qualitj, ^Yllilc the press wine is of an inferior grade. Red wines 

 are generally drawn off in the March following the vintage, and 

 sold in four or six weeks after. What stock remains on hand is 

 drawn off again in the following October. 



It is to be remarked that, b}^ an excellent arrangement, the 

 must wine can be conveyed by hollow tubes directly from the 

 press-house to each cask in the cellar. The method above de- 

 scribed is the best that can be adopted for the making of red 

 wine. All other modes are attended with the disadvantage of a 

 too long exposure of the must to the open air, which gives it an 

 acidity. The above process totally obviates such a tendency, as 

 all contact with the atmosphere is excluded by the water. The 

 red wines of Ingelheim, though lighter in qualit}^, nevertheless 

 keep better than those of Asmannhausen. They raise a good deal 

 of wine here — one ohm fetches from five to six carolins^ whereas 

 the genuine Asmannhausen costs at least ten carolins. 



Scharlachberg, near Bingen, produces white wines which com- 

 mand a good price ; they do not, however, attain so high a figure 

 as the choice Rheingaus, as they lack the strength and bouquet 

 of the latter sort. In good years, fifteen hundred florins per bar- 

 rel are paid for the very best Scharlachberger wine. 



Nierstein has been long famous for its wine, which is celebrated 

 for its good and wholesome qualities. A great quantity of it is 

 made, and the best Niersteiner fetches one thousand florins ^er 



The wines of Bodenheim and Laubenheim are in general twen- 

 ty per cent, lighter in quality than the above, and they are thus 

 proportionately cheaper. There are some exceptions, however ; 

 nor is it surprising that, throughout the genuine wine districts of 

 the Rhine, some superior sorts should be found ; and more es- 

 pecially will this be the case when once it becomes a general rule 

 to make their wines only from choice and very ripe fruits, and to 

 divest the berries of every particle of green stalk. Already has 

 this method been practiced for years past by the more intelligent 

 wine-growers, and their success has set a good example, inasmuch 

 as by adopting this plan the advantage is gained of its not being 

 found necessary to lay up the wine in barrels for years in order 

 to render it mild ; but, on the contrary, it soon becomes fit for 

 consumption, and, finding a speedy market, there is a quick re- 

 turn of the capital invested, which is not suffered to lie idle. 



Formerly it was customary to draw the wine off into large hogs- 

 heads, but now they select their different kinds of grape ibr their 

 several sorts of wine, and draw it off into small-sized barrels. 



The wines from the left bank of the Rhine possess, generally, 

 less body than those of the right, but they are finer in quality, 

 contain more alcohol, and have a most excellent bouquet. Rhein- 

 hessen transports from Worms to Bingen several kinds of very 



