DR. L. GALL ON IMPKOVEMENTS IN WINE-MAKING. 295 



teen ounces of seeds of red grapes, or twenty-four ounces of white, 

 that have not been in the fermenting tub, are sufficient for one 

 hectohtre of wine. To extract the acid from them, pour upon 

 these sixteen or twenty-four ounces one half litre of boiling wa- 

 ter, and leave them therein for twenty-four hours ; then rub them 

 between the fingers to break their skin, and put all together into 

 a clean copper kettle, which again is placed in a larger one filled 

 with water, and heat it until the water in the latter has boiled for 

 about two hours. All the tannic matters are then dissolved in 

 the water, and it only needs now the filtering of the solution 

 through linen. In applying it to the wine, mix it with two litres 

 of this to the hectolitre ; put it in small portions into the barrel, 

 and stir "the wine well up. In case the disease is merely begin- 

 ning, it answers to fill the wine a few times from one cask into 

 another by means of the funnel with a perforated covering. In 

 all cases, the wine, after being mixed with the tannic acid, must 

 be cleared by isinglass or gelatine, etc., etc., and after its clearing 

 be drawn off into a sulphurized cask. 



3. Sourness. — This consists in the progress of the transformation 

 of the alcohol into acid of vinegar, as soon as this has been allowed 

 to appear : 



a. — Principally^ if the casks have not been properly or not at 

 all closed by their bungs. 



h. — If they remain for a longer period in warm cellars not per- 

 fectly filled, and sulphurized, and bunged. 



c. — If they are filled up with wines that already contain the 

 poison. 



In its first stage it may be kept in bounds by a mixture of 

 honey or three or four per cent, of sugar, this producing a new 

 fermentation, whereby the alcohol of the wine increases, and is 

 able to resist for a time longer the inroads of the acid of vinegar. 

 But if the wine is already perfectly sour, all remedies will be tried 

 in vain, and it would be best to let it turn perfectly into vinegar, 

 and sell it as such. 



4. Cloudiness. — No matter what the cause may be, it is almost 

 sure to yield to a properly applied melioration. But it needs to 

 draw the wine off into another strongly-sulphurized cask, and to 

 bring it into close combination with the sulphur as well as the 

 remedy. To this end, burn first half only of the required sulphur 

 in the cask, fill one third of the cloudy wine into it, add the half 

 of the improving article (isinglass, gelatine, gum-arabic), and roll 

 the cask about. After this, burn another one fourth of the sulphur 

 in the empty space of the cask, put another one third of the wine 

 in, and the other half of the clearing material, and mix all thor- 

 oughly. Finally, burn the last one fourth of tlie sulphur, put the 

 balance of the wine in, whip it all well, and put the bung tight 

 into the cask. Wines treated in this manner that do not clear 

 off within fourteen days must be filtered. 



