WINE AND THE ART OF WINE TASTING. 



29 



foregoing; indicates a diseased or decrepit wine, or one in need of 

 racking. 



After the foam is disposed of, the taster remarks on the degree of 

 limpidity which the wine presents; a wine is said to be: 



CLEAR (Limpido, It.; Limpide, Fr.). When it is transparent and with- 

 out cloudiness; or what Columella calls "vinum defaecatum quam lim- 

 pidissimum." 



BRIGHT, BRILLIANT (Brillante, Diafano,Lucido, Smagliante, It.',Brillant, 

 Lucide, Luisant, Fr.). These terms are used to express a perfect and, as 

 it were, crystalline transparency. This is the condition of wines that 

 have been well clarified or filtered. 



It may be noted here that clarification, unlike nitration, slightly 

 modifies the composition of wine, as is proved by the quantitative deter- 

 mination of Professor Carpene, relative to wines that had been treated 

 with white of egg. Following are the results of these determinations: 



The quantity of albumen employed was about 100 c.c. per hectolitre 

 (1 per m., or 1 pint to 125 gallons), which is a usual dose. 



CLOUDY, DULL ( Vellato, Appannato, It.; Voile, Fr.). This is said of 

 wines that are not quite clear, that show a slight cloud or dimness, due 

 to the presence in them of substances in suspense in a very fine state of 

 subdivision. This is noticed, for example, in wines recently racked, 

 especially when, during the operation, they have been much exposed to 

 the air and drawn into well-sulphured barrels. 



This slight defect, which is easily cured, is also frequently found in 

 wines made from grapes grown on rich soil, and also in wines which, 

 being poor in acid, have not undergone a complete fermentation. 



Wines, of course, may possess different degrees of cloudiness, which 

 are generally expressed by the terms cloudy, slightly cloudy, nearly 

 clear, etc. 



TURBID, MURKY, THICK (Torbido, It.; Trouble, Casse, Fr.). When the 

 suspended particles are large enough to be almost visible to the naked 

 eye, and present in sufficient quantity to completely destroy the trans- 

 parency of the wine and make it almost opaque.* 



*01d bottled wines may be turbid either because they nave become unsound, as hap- 

 pens very easily when bottled too young, or because they have not been thoroughly 

 defecated before being bottled, or it may be, because they have been moved in such a 

 manner as to stir up the slight deposit which all wines throw down in time in greater or 

 less quantities. If the wine is unsound there is no need of precautions, for the wine 

 has become undrinkable; if, on the contrary, the turbid wine is sound it must be moved 

 with the greatest caution, and to prepare it for the table it will be found useful to follow 

 the rules of C. Ladrey, who writes thus: 



" When the time arrives to drink a wine which has lain in bottle for some years, the 

 first thing to do is to examine the bottle with great care when it is lifted up. It should 

 be lifted up cautiously, retaining it in its horizontal position. By carrying the wine 

 into the lignt, daylight or artificial, it is easy to ascertain whether the wine is perfectly 

 clear or has a deposit. If, as may happen, the wine be perfectly clear, without trace of 

 deposit, the bottle may be stood up and the wine served from it without decantation. 

 This case, however, is very rare, and, especially with old wines, there is generally a deposit. 



