242 CHYMISTRY APPLIED TO AGRICULTURE. 



the addition of a sufficient quantity of sugar, the must of 

 such grapes as grow in seasons less favorable to their ma* 

 turity. 



In 1817 the grapes of Touraine did not ripen well, and 

 consequently the must from my vintage, which in favorable 

 years marks 11° (z= specific gravity of 1.083,) stood only at 

 9° {= sp. gr. 1.067.) I raised it to 11° (=z sp. gr. 1.083,) 

 by the addition of sugar, covered the tub with boards and 

 woollen cloths, and left it to ferment. The wine cleared 

 itself through the vent of the vat, and had nearly as much 

 strength as the southern wines, whilst that which had been 

 put into a tub without the addition of sugar was as flat and 

 thick as the coarse red wine of such vintages usually is. 

 The last kind of wine usually sells for fifty francs per butt, 

 and I have refused sixty-four for mine, preferring to keep it 

 for my own table. The wine to which the sugar had been 

 added was as clear as some that had been four years in the 

 cask, and was much more agreeable to the taste. Twenty 

 butts of wine prepared in this way require one cwt. of sugar. 

 The mode is as follows. 



As soon as the grapes are pressed and the must poured 

 mto a vat, a portion of the same liquid is put into a boiler and 

 set over the fire, where it is sufficiently heated to dissolve 

 the sugar i as soon as the solution is completed it is thrown 

 into the vat, and the whole well stirred : this operation is re- 

 peated till all the quantity of sugar to be employed is com- 

 bined with the liquor. 



Some authors advise, that the must itself be boiled till it 

 is reduced to one half; but I am not of the opinion that this 

 is the best mode of proceeding. Boiling reduces a portion 

 ef the vegeto-animal principle to a concrete state, and thus 

 affects the fermentation of the liquor : I have always lim- 

 ited the degree of temperature to which the must should be 

 heated to 35° or 40°.* In the northern parts of France, 

 where grapes never ripen, they may by means of sugar carry 

 the concentration of the must one or two degrees farther 

 than that of grapes which grow in the best years, and the 

 wine will thus be rendered far richer and likewise less lia- 

 ble to decomposition. 



The following are the advantages to be derived from this 

 method. 



[* No scale is mentioned : if the one referred to be the centigrade, 

 the equivalent numbers upon Fahrenheit's are 95° and 104° ^ if R6au- 

 aiur's, 110|° and 122°.— Tr-J 



