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Other means besides the use of tartaric acid are .vtlowed by 
some wine makers in order to bring their grape must up to the 
desired standard of acidity, and that is— 
2nd. By an admixture of second-crop grapes. 
3rd. By early picking. 
One more word on the question of acidity in relation to must 
and wine, and that is, that authors generally, when treating of the 
acidity in made wine, refer to it in terms of sulphuric acid. The 
rule given above will enable anyone to convert it to tartaric acid, 
if so desired. 
Without the acids, wine would be a mere mixture of spirits 
and water, of a dull leaden colour, without any flavour or bouquet, 
and almost tasteless to the palate. The presence of natural acids in 
wine gives it, on the other hand, a brilliant and sparkling appear- 
ance, owing to their action on the colouring matter in wine; be- 
sides, by combining with the alcohol, they create those penetrating 
and delicate ethers which have very appropriately been called the 
“bouquet” of the wine. 
Saline substances are also found in musts, as potassium salts, 
under various states of combinations, and chiefly among these is 
acid tartrate of potash. That salt, commonly known as “argol” or 
“tartar,” adds to the acidity of the must and of new wine. It is 
less soluble than tartaric acid in water, and its solubility decreases, 
while the percentage of aleohol goes on increasing. It precipi- 
tates in large quantities in the lees after fermentation, and after the 
first drawing off it deposits slowly, under the form of crystals, on 
the inside of the casks. 
It often happens that young wines, possessing a raw and un- 
pleasant acid taste, improve eonsideralily on maturing, and lose that 
excess of acidity which is due to the tartar. 
Although that salt precipitates gradually in a liquid which 
contains alcohol, that precipitation is further accelerated under the 
influence of cold; hence the practice of maturing wine completely 
fermented, especially light wines, with a low percentage of alcohol, 
and with a marked degree of natural acidity, in cool, underground 
cellars. The French have a characteristic word for depiciting that 
gradual process of precipitation of the tartar and the lees. They 
call it dépouiller, which means to eject, or excrete the dregs. 
Colouring matters and essential oils, such as produce the 
“aroma” in wines, are other ingredients of the must. Both are 
contained in cells which line the inner face of the skin, and their 
extraction is made more active and more complete under the in- 
fluence of warmth and the production of alcohol during the course 
of active fermentation. 
Temperature notably influences the solubility of the colouring 
matter; aleohol does so to a much lesser extent. This explains why 
those wines which have been subjected to a fairly high temperature 
