NON- VOLATILE CONSTITUENTS OF WINE. 285 



consequence of the evaporation they underwent whilst 

 in cask. The amount in Madeira and Teneriffe may 

 rise to 3, 4, or 5 per cent., in Port to 4-| or 5. In good 

 cellared Rhine wines it may rise from 2 to 10 per cent. 



All the substances found in the extract, taken collec- 

 tively, materially promote the excellence of the wine. 



I have purposely made no attempt to answer the 

 question so frequently and so uselessly put, "Why 

 one kind of wine is better than another?" Every 

 constituent helps to promote excellence; alcoholic 

 contents, bouquet, and every non-volatile ingre- 

 dient. One wine is liked on account of its aroma 

 (and when we consider the connexion between nose 

 and mouth, aroma is flavour) ; another on account of 

 its strength ; a third simply because of its flavour. 

 The importance of a considerable amount of non- 

 volatile ingredients in wine is taught us by the inti- 

 mate connexion between the value attached to certain 

 wines, and the amount of the so-called wine extract. 

 But it is not a standard, for different people use 

 different measures. 



I may here insert a remark upon the value of a 

 very simple method, which has been suggested for 

 determining the amount of wine extract, from the 

 specific gravity of wine which has been freed from 

 alcohol by evaporation, and restored to its original 

 volume by means of water. If this be so, then the 

 areometer, or anything else by which the specific 

 gravity can be determined, would equally determine 

 the amount of substances left after evaporation, which 



