190 TANNIC ACID IN WINE. 



pagne, still more so in Madeira, Teneriffe, and Rhine 

 wines, and proportionally strong in Muscadel and 

 Lachryma Christi. 



Faure has determined the amount of tannic acid in 

 the white wines of la Grironde by means of isinglass, 

 and found from 4 to 6 parts in 10,000 parts of wine 

 (p. 172). This appears to me to be too much, and I 

 must also doubt whether so insignificant an amount 

 of tannic acid could be accurately determined by a 

 standard solution of gelatine. 



The same may be said with respect to the deter- 

 mining the amount of tannic acid in red wines. 

 Judging from the colour produced by chloride of iron 

 and the precipitate formed by isinglass in red wine, I 

 should expect in general to find four or six times as 

 much tannic acid as in liqueur wines (which mostly 

 contain it), but Faure as mean gives only twice as 

 much ; indeed in 10,000 parts wine he found six parts 

 tannic acid in white Castillon, and only seven parts in 

 red Haut Brion. 



The difference between red Burgundy and red 

 Bordeaux in respect to the tannic acid they contain, 

 is very perceptible, the former always containing less 

 than the latter. 



Dark- coloured wines deserve especial notice with 

 regard to the tannic acid they contain. Port wine is 

 among the darkest, though many French wines come 

 near it in point of colour. As far as is known, young 

 Port wine contains the greatest quantity of tannic 



