62 Wine-making. 



BUSHBERG CATALOGUE. 



Wine-making. 



The more sugar grapes contain, the more alcohol 

 will be developed in the wine under proper fermenta- 

 tion, and the more durable will it be, from the fact 

 that the floating yeast more effectually settles. The 

 durability of a wine depends largely on the quantity 

 of the remaining undissolved substances in the same ; 

 it is therefore necessary to free it from those substances 

 as soon as possible. The more regular, uninterrupted 

 and complete the first fermentation, the more of the 

 dregs or lees will have settled and the better the wine 

 will become ; particles of the sugar, however, remain 

 floating undecomposed until after the second fermen- 

 tation, usually during the time of the next blooming 

 of the vines. Some of the acids, tannin, and albumen, 

 are also generally precipitated and settle only during 

 the second summer ; and not till then can most wines 

 be considered completely developed. Even after that 

 period there is a further change perceptible in most 

 wines ; they become milder, and not only their taste 

 but also their effects change. Old wines are considered 

 less intoxicating and more beneficial ; but there is a 

 limit to this improvement by age, and very old wines 

 become rougher, and less palatable, unless younger 

 wine is added from time to time. 



It is self-evident that the qualities of wine depend 

 on the combination and proportion of the above 

 mentioned substances in the must, and their proper 

 development during fermentation. From analysis of 

 the best wines we find that a good wine should contain 

 from 10 to 12 per cent, of alcohol, from 1 to 3 per cent, 

 extractive substances, and > per cent. (5 to 6 pr. mille) 

 acids, bouquet and aroma in proper proportions (which 

 cannot be expressed or measured by any scale) . 



The alcoholic strength of wines can NOT be measured 

 by any of the so-called wine-scales ; these show the spe- 

 cific gravity, but never the alcoholic strength. A small 

 distilling apparatus, Alambic Salleron, would be re- 

 quired for this purpose. (Instructions in its use 

 accompany this instrument.) The wine-maker may, 

 however, know in advance, from the sugar percentage 

 of his must, how many per cent, of alcohol his wine 

 will have, after complete fermentation, calculating 1 

 percent, of alcohol for every 2 per cent, of sugar, mea- 

 sured by Oechsle's well known must-scale. For a cor- 

 rect examination, of the must, it should be clear 

 (filtered), not yet fermenting, and its temperature 

 about 65 F. (14 R. or 17 0.) Tables showing the 

 percentage of sugar for the various degrees of 

 Oechsle's scale may be obtained with the instrument. 

 To determine the acidity of wines, as well as of must, 

 we have now in Twichell's acidometer a safe and 

 practical instrument. 



Wines are generally classified (according to their sac- 

 charine substances) as follows : 



(1) DRY WINES, in which all the grape sugar has 

 been absorbed or transmuted by fermentation. 



(2) SWEET WINES, which still contain a considera- 

 ble quantity of sugar. 



The former might be called the Wines of the North ; 

 the latter, the Wines of the South. The northern wines 

 contain more acidity, and are consequently of a richer 

 perfume, bouquet ; the southern wines lack acidity ; 

 the spirituous element, sweetness, is predominating ; 

 they generally have no bouquet, and even the strong 



muscadine flavor of some southern grapes disappears- 

 in a few years. 



With regard to color, wines are classified as WHITE 

 and RED wines, though there are many shades between- 

 the two extremes, from the pale greenish-yellow of the 

 Kelly Island Catawba to the deep dark red of our Nor- 

 ton's Virginia. The intermediate shades are generally 

 not as well liked. Sometimes wines are also classified 

 as STILL and SPARKLING wines, a merely artificial 

 classification, as the sparkling is simply the result of a 

 peculiar mode of manipulation (by fermentation in 

 closed bottles, so as to retain and hold the carbonic 

 acid gas) a manipulation too complicated to be here 

 described, or to be of any practical use to most wine- 

 growers. 



We shall now endeavor to proceed to the modus oper- 

 andi of the grape-grower as a producer of still wines. 



II. Gathering the Grapes Mashing and Pressing. 



Some are impatient to gather their grapes for wine- 

 making as soon as they color, others delay until they 

 are over-ripe. Both are wrong. Not until the grapes 

 have reached their full sweetness, the berries separate 

 easily from the stem, the stems have lost their freshness 

 and have become harder, dryer, brown or woody, are 

 they ripe ; but when they have reached that state of ma- 

 turity gathering should not be delayed. It is impossi- 

 ble to describe or determine with exactness the point of 

 full maturity ; some varieties, especially those deficient 

 in acidity, will reach it sooner than others, and in bad 

 seasons grapes will not reach a perfect degree of ma- 

 turity. In such seasons it would be even more useless 

 than in favorable years to wait for an improvement by 

 "after-ripening," as, aside from the danger of their en- 

 tirely spoiling by late rains and frost, the loss in quan- 

 tity would be far greater than the gain in quality. 

 Grape-growers cannot afford to risk a large portion of 

 their crop for a little better quality, especially as long 

 as the latter is not sufficiently appreciated and paid for 

 in this country. The dangers of loss are, of course, 

 greater in the northern than in the more southern 

 States, and in some localities the fall season is so con- 

 stantly dry and warm that the above rule is thereby 

 modified ; moreover, some varieties improve more than 

 others by getting over-ripe, and are far better adapted 

 for late gathering. As such, we would especially name 

 the Norton's Virginia. 



To obtain a wine of superior quality it is necessary 

 to SELECT the best and most perfectly ripened grapes r 

 of varieties best adapted for wine, and to press them 

 separate from those which are poor in quality or im- 

 perfectly ripe. But, instead of sorting the gathered 

 grapes, it is generally considered more advisable * 

 especially in seasons when the grapes do not ripen 

 evenly to sort them while gathering ; that is to say, 

 to pick first the best and ripest grapes, and let the 

 others hang on the vines several days to ripen more 

 fully ; thus making two gatherings from the same 

 vines. We here desire also to caution wine-growers 

 not to plant too many varieties. A few kinds, suited 

 to their locality, will pay best and make better 

 wine. By this we do not wish to discourage the test- 

 ing of different and new varieties, in small quantities, 

 with a view to progress and improvement; but the 

 planting of a great many varieties, each insufficient in 



