CHAPTER VIIL 



OF THE WIjYE'CELLAK. 



The cellar is all -important for the preservation of the wine. The 

 best cellars are such as are dug out under uninhabited dwellings, as 

 is seen in the districts most famous for wines ; exposed to the North, 

 and 50 or 60 French feet deep, according to the dryness or dampness of 

 the soil. A certain constant, but not excessive humidity is necessary ; 

 if too moist, the casks rot and are apt to make the wine musty ; if 

 too dry, the staves shrink and the wine leaks out. The light should 

 enter moderately, by openings at suitable distances ; these windows 

 should be protected by narrow pent-houses and closed when it is too 

 hot or too cold. The ceiling of the cellar should be solidly vaulted 

 and very thick, to prevent the shocks and pressures which it receives 

 from being communicated to the casks below. In summer, as in 

 winter, it is well to cover the floor above with dry rushes, straw, or 

 any such material to prevent either violent heat or cold from extend- 

 ing to the cellar. The floor of the cellar should be very smooth and 

 beaten hard ; that part of it intended for the bottled wine should be 

 sanded. The cellar should be kept clean ; if too damp it should have 

 more and larger windows ; if too dry, fewer windows and those made 

 smaller. When badly situated it is easy to shelter it from the rays of 

 the sun by building small buttresses in front of the windows, or by 

 stopping them with a board covered with earth, or sods, which is 

 better. 



The casks should be set perfectly horizontal on a stilling 6 or seven 

 inches high, made of squared joists ; and be supported with wedge- 

 shaped pieces 4 inches long and 3 inches thick, which must be driven 

 between the staving and joists quietly and with great care. Neither 

 stilling nor casks should touch the wall in any place ; thus fixed they 

 are firm, and safe from rotting. If the casks lean forward, the lees are 

 carried to the front and stop up the tap ; if they incline backwards 

 the evil is worse ; when the cask must be lifted up to let the liquor 

 run off, the whole becomes troubled. If perfectly horizontal the lees 

 settle in the lowermost part of the side and every drop of the limpid 

 wine runs off clear. 



Garden stuff*, green wood, flowers, fruit, &c. must never enter a 

 wine-cellar. Sooner or later they are sure to sour the wine, by the 

 exhalations that arise from them. 



