1-27 



iiays, linuig and bottling it. If it is stiii too weak, it iiiusst be 

 heightened by mingling with it a stronger wine. 



8. Of Sediment. 



As they acquire age, and according to the crops and seasons wmca 

 have produced them, some wines are subject to form setthngs, of a na- 

 ture different from the lees. These are of two kinds ; the one become:* 

 a mass at the bottom of the vessel, or coats the sides ; the other, 

 gpecifically hghter, keeps suspended in the liquor. 



This sediment has the appearance of litharge, and to discover its nl-> 

 ture the following test is used. Dry it and throw it on live coals, if it 

 burns with a thick smoke and the smell of burning tartar, keep 

 np the heat and it 4^111 leave a small white residuum, which is simply 

 potass ; if the presence of litharge is suspected, a few grains of flower 

 of Bulplmr thrown into a tumbler of the wine will immediately make 

 it known by a heavy black precipitate. 



' Tartar precipitates in the form of scaly crystals ia almost all wines, 

 even the best ; in fat oily wines it looks like a muddy sand, so also 

 in mixed wines that have not equally fermented. Tartar gives no ill 

 taste and but slightly affects the limpidity of the liquor ; it is even 

 thought that it makes it neater, less subject to alterations, and more fit 

 for keeping. Bottled wine should never be changed unless for im- 

 mediate drinking ; except where the wine is to undergo transporta* 

 tion ; in that case it must be put into new bottles, because the moving 

 would shake up the old sediment and injure the taste and traaspa^ 

 rency perhaps without remedy. 



This pouring off from one bottle to another requires patience and 

 address ; care must be taken to^ keep that side of the bottle down- 

 warks which has always been the lowermost, and the pouring must be 

 done slowly, and with a firm hand, to the last spoonful, which must 

 not be allowed to enter' the new bottle. 



A funnel to facilitate this operation and to prevent waste, has been 

 invented by M. A. Jullien, author of several works on rural economy. 

 He names it Cannelle aerifere ; and its construction leaves nothing 

 to be desired. 



Red wines cast a heavier sediment than white wines. Those, the 

 sediment of which is so hght that it mixes with the liquor the mo- 

 ment the bottle is moved, cannot be poured off clear ; Such for 

 stance are tlie sparkling wines. 



