270 
ON COLONIAL WINES. 
not so very great difference, on the whole, as regards 
the vineyards now in existence in the two colonies. 
The Auldana, Morialta, Highercombe, and Pewsey 
Vale growths find analogues, if not their counterparts, 
in the Barrabool Hills and Yering, and their equals at 
Ivanhoe, near Melbourne. The difference in spirit 
strength, as obtained from the general average, is 039 
in favour of South Australia. 
As to the keeping power of South Australian wines, 
it was excellent wherever the tannic acid was present 
in its normal quantity. But with the exception of 
very sweet, luscious wines, like those of Mr. Stead, I 
cannot say that any of them continued to improve 
after the sixth or seventh year. I have no means of 
knowing how they would improve in bulk. I can only 
speak about bottled samples. 
Speaking of the white wines very generally, I found 
in the prevailing character of the bouquet something 
to remind me of the faint odour of apples. Could this 
be malic aether, formed by a portion of the malic 
acid on the spirit in a nascent state ? And if it be 
disliked, could it not be removed by the use of small 
quantities of partially calcined gypsum during the 
pressing. 
Not a few of the reds either had already, or soon 
after the bottle was opened, acquired a very distinctive 
smell and taste, which were not pleasing to every 
palate. Some persons, not professed judges, called it 
smoky, others leathery. But the acquiring of this in 
no way affected the keeping of the wine. Both in the 
instance of South Australian and Victorian produce I 
conducted a long series of chemical experiments, with 
a view of determining whether this peculiarity was 
