Wine-making. 



GRAPE MANUAL. 



Wine-making. 63- 



itself, would necessitate the gathering of their grapes 

 while some are not sufficiently ripened, others over- 

 ripe, and these mixed together, cannot produce good 

 wine. It almost seems unnecessary to say, that white- 

 wine grapes and red-wine grapes should each be gather- 

 ed and pressed separately. Grapes should be gathered 

 with knives or scissors adapted to the purpose, and not 

 torn from the vines merely by the hand. Some gather 

 in baskets, others in hods, made for the purpose ; but, 

 whatever kind of vessels may be used, it is important 

 that these as well as all vessels used in wine-making 

 should be PERFECTLY CLEAN. Plenty of fresh water for 

 washing them is, therefore, an essential requirement. 

 Some first use hot water, to which some lime and salt 

 have been added, in order to remove every trace of 

 fungus which may have formed, and, after leaving 

 such water in the vessels about 24 hours, rinse the 

 same with plenty of pure cold water. 



The grapes being gathered, we now come to 



THE MASHING or CRUSHING, which is generally done 

 in a press-house. For this purpose we use a WINE-MILL, 

 consisting of two roughly notched rollers, so arranged 

 as to be moved by a crank and cog-wheels in opposite 

 directions, and having a hopper over them. Its con- 

 struction is so simple that no explanation is required. 

 The mashers should be so adjusted as to avoid the 

 laceration of the stems and combs of the grapes, yet 

 close enough to break each berry without crushing the 

 kernels. Some wine-makers believe that the stems 

 should be removed from the berries before mashing, 

 which is done by the aid of sieves or rasps ; others con- 

 tend that the wines are not materially improved there- 

 by, and that for red wines especially it is better not to 

 remove the stems; owing, probably, to the tannin 

 which these contain. But when the grapes have 

 ripened poorly, and had to be gathered in that con- 

 dition, it is necessary to remove the comb, which, 

 being green, would still more increase the acidity and 

 roughness. 



The press-house or press-room need not be in or 

 near the vineyard, but should always be close to, and, 

 best, immediately above the wine-cellar. It might be 

 divided into two parts one for mashing and pressing, 

 the other for the fermenting-room. The press and 

 mill should be placed in the centre of the press-room, 

 leaving space enough to go all around the press in 

 turning the screw with the press-beam. 



THE PRESSING, whereby the must is separated from 

 the mashed grapes, called the marc or pommace, can 

 be done with any kind of a cider-press ; for large quan- 

 tities, however, good screw-presses, specially made for 

 wine, are generally used ; and the principal qualities 

 of a good press are to require but little force, and to 

 afford abundant means of outflow to the juice. 



The mode and method of using the press, before 

 and after iernlentation, differs widely, according to the 

 kinds of wine we intend to make. Before speaking of 

 these, it is necessary to remark that the temperature 

 of the room, while fermentation is going on, should be 

 kept uniform without interruption : here in Southern 

 Missouri at about 70 Fahrenheit (about 17 Reaum.);* 

 in the South, where wine-making commences in Au- 

 gust, it should be so arranged that it can be kept as 



* In Noi-thern wine regions a lower temperature 

 (about 6u F. =1-2 R.) will favor a slower fermentation. 



cool as possible, and farther North so as to KEEP IT 

 WARM by the aid of fire, if necessary. A fireplace and 

 kettle may also otherwise prove very useful in the 

 Press-house. 



To the necessary furniture of the press-house fer- 

 menting-vats also belong, and may be ordered of any 

 suitable size (not less than 100 gallons) from any expe- 

 rienced cooper ; these are best made of poplar-wood ; 

 then good pine or cedar tubs and pails, not forgetting- 

 the must-scale, heretofore mentioned ; and, finally, 

 sufficient hose to run the fermented wine down the 

 cellar. A good comm'on house-cellar, cool in summer 

 and safe against frost in winter, will fully answer the 

 purpose. 



For those, however, who intend to make wine on a 

 large scale, a separate WINE-CELLAR will, of course, be- 

 come a necessity. A good wine-cellar should be dry ; 

 in damp cellars the casks become mouldy, the wine 

 gets a bad taste and spoils. The cellar should be well 

 drained, that it may be daily washed, for which pur- 

 pose it must be amply supplied with water ; it should 

 have a sufficient number of air-holes to regulate venti- 

 lation and temperature. The temperature of a wine- 

 cellar should not rise above 60^ F. (12 R.) in summer, 

 nor fall below 50 F. (8 R.) in winter. Such a cellar, 

 with press-house and fermenting-room, store-room for 

 casks, pumps and other tools, costs thousands of dol- 

 lars, and the additional expense of having plans and 

 specifications made by an able architect or builder, 

 well informed as to the requirements of a good wine- 

 cellar, will be money well spent; it will protect you from 

 great losses , which are the inevitable result of poorly 

 and incorrectly constructed wine-cellars. In places 

 where deep cellars are impracticable or too costly, 

 good wine-cellars can also be built above ground, on 

 the system of the American ice-houses, whose double 

 frame walls are tightly stuffed with straw, sawdust,., 

 ashes, or other substances which are non-conductors 

 of heat; the roof should be well projecting and heavily 

 covered with straw. 



As necessary fur niture andtools of a producer's wine- 

 cellar must be mentioned: supports and layers of 

 sound timber on which the casks rest, about 18 inches 

 above the floor and at least 15 inches from the wall, so 

 as to enable you to examine and to clean the casks at 

 all times. The CASKS should vary in size from 160 to* 

 500 gallons (the capacity to be distinctly marked on 

 each). Very large establishments will, of course, also 

 use larger casks. They should be made of good, well 

 seasoned white oak wood. The larger sized casks 

 should have so-called '' man-holes," through which a 

 man can slip in and clean them thoroughly; also, 

 wooden funnels, pails and tubs, which can be obtained- 

 from any cooper ; faucets, funnels ; thieves for draw- 

 ing samples out through the bunghole ; rotary pumps 

 with rubber hose, to facilitate the drawing off from, 

 one cask into another ; bunghole-borers, wooden ham- 

 mers, and various kinds of other tools ; sulphur-strips 

 and hooks . candles and candlesticks, gauge sticks and 

 measures, wine-glasses for tasting ; small step-ladders,, 

 and other utensils which are demanded in the course 

 of operations, and may be seen in any properly fur- 

 nished wine-cellar. 



New casks, however, are not ready and fit to receive 

 wine ; they must first be rinsed with boiling hot water 



