FERMENTATION OF WINES. 79 



gum or mucilage is held in solution in the juice, and is invisi- 

 ble before the fermentation commences, but, so soon as that 

 process begins, the clear liquor becomes turbid and a separa- 

 tion takes place ; some subsides and settles to the bottom, 

 some becomes charged with carbonic acid gas and floats on 

 the top until the gas escapes, when it sinks to the bottom. 

 This is the time to separate the wine from the superabundant 

 yeast, as there will still be enough left to carry forward the 

 fermentation with sufficient rapidity to insure a sound, good 

 wine. The wine, then, will not, in all cases, be clear, but if 

 it is a little turbid, it should be racked off, and the casks well 

 washed out with cold water, and the wine returned into them 

 to complete its fermentation. Some wines will not require a 

 second racking off, as the separation from the ferment or lees 

 will have been sufficiently effected, and the fermentation 

 during its future progress will be moderate enough to fine 

 itself bright and clear ; but if that should not be the case and 

 it still continues turbid or riley, a small quantity of isinglass 

 or fish-glue should be dissolved in strong spirits and added 

 (about one ounce of the glue to one pint of spirit, for a bar- 

 rel of forty gallons is sufficient); it should be dissolved warm 

 and put into the bung-hole, and then slightly stirred over the 

 top ; it is gelatinous, and in subsiding carries down the super- 

 abundant particles of ferment that heretofore kept up the 

 action, causing the muddiness of the wine. Whenever the 

 wine appears clear it should be racked off, and, in most cases, 

 it will not need any further assistance, but becomes bright 

 and clear. The process of fermentation does not stop here, 

 however, as it is constantly progressing in the form of an in- 

 sensible fermentation, elaborating and combining the elements 

 of the new and acrid, and producing a mellowness of the 

 wine that is only acquired by age. If the wine has been 

 fined or separated too much from the lees during the first 

 racking off, it will be thin and wanting in "body" and defi- 

 cient in aroma ; this can only be remedied by adding sub- 



