120 CELLAEING. 



paring casks for brandy which is to be exported 

 colourless, is to fill them with water, and dissolve soda 

 in it (31b. to a hogshead), then conduct chlorine gas 

 through it till it is present in excess, after which it 

 may be let stand for eight days in the casks, which 

 must afterwards be washed thoroughly with hot water. 

 Doubtless the same method of cleansing might be 

 applied to wine-casks. But as it occasions consider- 

 able expense, it would only be of real advantage in 

 cases where the best wines were to be cellared or 

 exported. All wines which have been long in bottle 

 acquire a flavour which we ascribe to the cork. This 

 is as great a mistake, as if we attributed the flavour 

 of wine which has been long cellared to the cask. 



The cause, in both cases, is fundamentally the same, 

 though the accessory circumstances may differ. The 

 moist cork, one side of which is in contact with the 

 air, allows, equally with the wood of the wine-cask, 

 the developement of mould plants. The taste and 

 smell of wine is, under such circumstances, identical 

 with that of many other mouldy substances, and is 

 what we call musty. The mould of cork differs of 

 course from that of wood, and the taste is conse- 

 quently not exactly the same. The smell may be dis- 

 tinctly perceived in almost every warehouse in the 

 country. The mould grows from the outside to the 

 inside, and should it reach the inner side of the cask 

 or cork it imparts a taste to the wine. On this 

 account old wine casks must from time to time be 



