A VINOUS SMELL. 329 



may show us how extremely small the quantity of 

 ethereal oil must be (if we except the compounds of 

 ethyl and amyl), found in many wines, since raspber- 

 ries are a peculiarly fragrant fruit, and the most 

 aromatic grapes scarcely possess Toy part of the aroma 

 of the raspberries. 



Let no one imagine that since fresh wine is not 

 fragrant, it cannot therefore contain odoriferous sub- 

 stances, and that all odoriferous ingredients must 

 necessarily be products of fermentation. We have 

 already remarked that the juice of many grapes is 

 fragrant before fermentation, but that the young wine 

 contains excess of cenanthic ether, which makes it 

 offensive, and apparently causes young wine to affect 

 the head, and less of it can be borne, and a free in- 

 dulgence in it produces very uncomfortable feelings. 

 This fetid oenanthic ether masks at first the fragrance 

 of the aromatic ingredients. It is not till the wine has 

 been some time in store, and other fragrant ethers 

 have been engendered from oenanthic ether, that the 

 original aroma of the grape juice reappears, being no 

 longer masked, but having its bouquet increased by 

 other aromatic ingredients. 



This fundamental fact that fetid oenanthic ether is 

 first formed, and masks all other aroma, is true not 

 only of ethereal oils, which pre-exist in grape juice, but 

 also of those fragrant ethers which we have treated 

 of above. These are sometimes found in the fusel oils 

 of younger wines, sometimes in those of bad wines. 



