30 WINE AND THE ART OP WINE TASTING. 



A wine from low-land grapes, in which tartaric fermentation has 

 reached the stage of development when carbonic acid begins to be 

 freely given off, is a good example of this condition. 



This defect may be simply transitory, as when a wine has lately 

 received some treatment, or an addition of alcohol or tartaric acid, or 

 directly after cutting or mixing wines, or when a wine has been much 

 shaken or been exposed to too low a temperature. If the defect is per- 

 manent, it shows that the wine is diseased or ready to become so, or 

 that the wine has been badly made. In the former cases the wine sim- 

 ply needs time to depose or an increase of temperature, when it will right 

 itself. In the latter cases some special treatment is necessary, such as 

 sulphuring, addition of tartaric acid, clarification, pasteurizing, etc. 



OPALESCENT, IRIDESCENT (Cangiante, Opalescente, Iridiscente, It.; Cha- 

 toyant, Fr.). When the light in passing through the wine is decom- 

 posed, that is, when in looking through the wine rays of different colors 

 are seen. This iridescence is best seen at the surface of the liquid and 

 near where it is in contact with the glass; it is due, not to reflection or 

 refraction, but to the phenomenon of interference. 



A wine exhibiting this peculiarity is open to grave suspicion of un- 

 soundness, if it is not already in an advanced stage of disease. 



As an example of a wine in this condition, may be cited one which 

 is, in the first phases of the disease, known as " subbollimento."* If a 

 little of this wine is left exposed to the air it first becomes turbid, and 

 loses its red color; then a precipitate forms and leaves a yellowish, sour, 

 somewhat bitter liquid on top. As the disease progresses, if the wine 

 is slightly shaken, mucous clouds will be seen floating in it, at the sur- 

 faces of which the above-mentioned phenomenon of interference may 

 be seen. 



In the time of Pliny, to describe the color of a wine they had only 

 the four following epithets: album, fulvum, sanguineum, nigrum. 



In those days they were easily satisfied; now we use the following 

 terms to describe the colors of red and white wines: 



COLORLESS, DECOLORIZED (Incolore, Scolorito, Decolorato, It.; Incolore, 

 Decolore, Fr.). When the wine has almost the appearance of pure water; 

 when the rays of light pass through it without suffering any or only 

 imperceptible changes. 



Colorless wines are easily obtained from perfectly ripe white grapes, 

 picked and handled with great care, and crushed when quite fresh and 

 quite cool; then by exercising the most scrupulous cleanliness during 

 the vinification and keeping of the wine, and by fermenting the must 

 after it has been well defecated. If a wine is made which is not per- 



In this case we must be careful not to mix the limpid part of the wine with the deposit, 

 and before raising the bottle up the wine should be decanted, which in its result is an 

 operation exactly similar to racking. This decantation should be made in the cellar, 

 and demands some precautions. First the neck of the bottle is carefully raised, but not 

 too high; it is then uncorked, care being taken not to subject it to any brusque motion 

 either in raising it or in drawing the cork. The wine is then poured Into another per- 

 fectly clean bottle, taking care to stop before the smallest part of the deposit has passed 

 into the fresh bottle or decanter. The quantity of wine lost by this method is very 

 small, and the wine that is saved can be drunk to the last drop. If, on the contrary, a 

 wine which has only a very slight deposit is placed on the table without decanting, the 

 second or third glass will commence to show a loss of brightness and the wine will have 

 lost its agreeableness. There are some very simple machines made, which work on the 

 principle of the siphon, and which greatly facilitate the operation of decantation." 



*"La pousse" of the French, a kind of tartaric fermentation which is fully described 

 on a subsequent page. Trans. 



