32 CULTURE OF THE GRAPE. 



in quality, as in the order above stated. A fourth variety may 

 be made of a rich claret color, by fermenting in the skins ; and 

 by a greater or less fermentation the quality may be varied. 

 These last will be too rough and astringent, when new, to 

 suit the public taste, but will become rich and palatable when 

 mellowed by age. 



The common practice is to put all the must together in the 

 same cask, believing that the whole of the juice of the grape 

 is required to make a fair average wine. 



This has been the custom with the writer, except that the 

 last pressing, being weak and astringent, is mixed with the 

 must of the refuse grapes, and sold as an inferior wine usu- 

 ally at half price. 



The quality of wines differs with the seasons, a warm, dry 

 summer and autumn are more propitious to maturing the 

 grape than a wet one, hence the variation in wines of different 

 vintages. 1846, 1848, and 1851 were remarkably favorable 

 in this respect. 



We have much to learn yet in the art of making wines, and 

 doubtless will be progressing in that knowledge for many 

 years. We have a noble material to work upon in our Ca- 

 tawba grape, and if "we do not improve, American ingenuity 

 will for once be at fault. 



In the valuable work on wines by CYRUS REDDING, second 

 edition, London, 1836, at page 42, will be found the following 

 method of making a sweet wine, by arresting the fermenta- 

 tion with sulphur and spirits : 



" In the south of France a quantity of wine is made called 

 muet, for which the grapes are trodden and pressed at the 

 vintage, and the wine is fined immediately, to prevent fer- 

 mentation. This wine, or rather must, is next poured into a 

 barrel until it is only a fourth part filled ; above the surface 

 of the liquid several sulphur matches are then burned, and 

 the bung closed upon the fumes. The cask is now violently 

 shaken until the sulphurous gas is absorbed, so that none 



