SOUTHEKN CULTIVATOR. 
319 
certain species of wines cannot bear the influence of the 
atmosphere. Burgundy wines cannot remain long in 
Brittanny, and the wines from Bordeaux improve in that 
province; the constitution of the former, being weak and 
delicate, is destroyed by the saline atmosphere of the 
place, which on the conti*ary exercises a beneficial influ- 
ence on the strong wines of Bordeaux. We are in the 
habit ofkeeping, indiscriminately, in cellars, but strong 
and spirituous wines ought to be kept in garrets; the al 
ternative of heat and cold, by dilating and condensing the 
vessel and the liquid, and light, by exercising an action 
on the bodies it penetrates, are so many means to hasten 
wine to an old age, a quality much sought for. Brandy, 
ratifias and liquors, should also be kept in lofts or garrets. 
DISEASES OF UUXE. 
There are times that fermentation seems to be renewed 
in a special manner, viz : when the vines begin to shoot, 
when they are in flower and when the fruit begins to ac- 
quire color ; this species of fermentation is termed fretting. 
What can be the cause of this sympathy is difficult to tell; 
this fretting is not produced by the heat of the atmosphere ; 
it happens at the epochs above mentioned, and when the 
weather is cold ; and in warmer weather the wine is quiet 
when these critical epochs have passed. Wine, like all 
bodies possessing life, is subject to diseases; some im- 
prove by age, such as very spirituous and luscious wines ; 
delicate wines, on the contrary, are good only when 
young; beyond this time they become sour and ropy. 
Volney wines reach from one vintage to another; those of 
Pomard reach the second vintage with difiiculty ; the 
color of an onion skin, which they assume, indicates the 
stale of alternation. Wines manufactured in rainy weather 
and those made from clayey soils, are notof long keeping. 
The decanting of wines and exposing them to sulphurous 
fumesy will contribute much to their preservation ; it is the 
means of giving strength to their constitution, and en- 
abling them to bear the change ofeveiy climate and tem- 
jierature. Popiness is a disease common! to wines ; the 
French call this disease “ graisse.” Weak wines, those 
made with grapes separated from the bunch, are most sub- 
ject to his disease. The remedy is to place the bottles in 
an airy garret; the eilternate temperature of night and day 
produces a motion which may often restore them. The 
bottles should be uncorked and well shaken ; the confined 
gas becoming free, escapes by froth and vapor. Ropy 
wines may be restored by clarifying them with isinglass 
and the whites of eggs, well beat together. This is also ef 
fected by the addition of one or two drops of some acid, 
such as that of citron, or by exposing them to the vapor of 
sulphur. 
OF ACIDITY. 
Wine becomes sour, and is converted into vinegar. 
Acescence is a natural disease of wines, and is a conse- 
quence of spirituous fermentation, to which acetous fer- 
mentation would rapidly succeed, were it not prevented 
by proper means. Wines never become sour so long as a 
portion of the saccharine principle remains in them ; this 
clearly shows the advantage of getting wine in hogsheads 
before the fermentation is completed, and before the decom- 
position of the whole saccharine principle takes place 
The observation justifies the custom of adding a little 
sugar to wine when bottled, to prevent its alteration, and 
particularly so with regard to sparkling champagne. 
From hence the custom of cooking a portion of Must on a 
slow and moderate fire, and mixing it with wines destined 
for shipment; the Must having undergone no fermenta- 
tion, contains the saccharine principle untouched. The 
younger the wine the easier it becomes sour. Wine when 
entirely clear of lees, seldom becomes sour ; hence a strong 
motive to clarify it with care, ffid wines disengaged of 
every extraneous principle undergo dissolution but do not 
turn sour. Wine never turns sour, or acidulous, unless 
1 it be left in contact with atmospheric air ; atmospheric air 
1 is, then, a real acetous leaven. When wine is spoiling 
; by a fermentation resulting from an excess of heat, the 
gas it contained escaped from the hogshead through a 
! gimlet hole, with a hissing noise and froth. External air 
is absorbed by wine when turning acid; it precipitates 
! itself with violence in the hogshead through the gimlet 
hole. Wine shut up in very close vessels would with 
difficulty turn sour ; it is more apt to become so when the 
; sap runs up, when the vine blooms, and when the fruit be- 
gins to take color. 
Theacescence of wine is provoked by heat; its degene- 
ration into vinegar becomes rapid and almost inevitable, 
when the mercury ranges between 80 and 96 degrees. 
This disease may, however, be checked by stopping the 
causes which produce it ; means more or less efficacious 
must be made use of to remove it — cooked Must, a thick 
confection of grapes, (raisins) and honey, are disolved ir 
the wine. When there is a small quantity of aciil it is 
neutralized, by ashes, lime and chalk ; these substances 
have the property of uniting with an acid to destroy its 
character. All that art can perform is to stop the progress 
of the acid, and to conceal it by the addition of a sweet 
and saccharine principle ; this will suspend, but will not 
cause the acetous fermentation to retrograde, especially 
when the principles of the wine, being set in motion by 
atmospheric air, tend to this result. One should be very 
careful to avoid the murderous practice of correcting thk 
acid by the means of litharge. Litharge is a preparation 
of lead, which causes violent cholics followed by paraly- 
sis and death ; this poison is easily detected by its effects ; 
the analysis of such a wine shows in a moment the pre- 
sence of the litharge — a handful of ashes produces a surer 
effect than litharge ; it would be therefore criminal to have 
recourse to this last means. 
OF THE TASTE OF WOOD IX HOGSHEADS. 
This taste proceeds from unsound or rotten wood, k 
also comes from the lees being left to remain in the casks 
— the lees should be scraped out with CAire, and the hogs- 
head well scalded. The means resorted to for destroying 
this taste are clarification, the drawing off, lime-waten, 
and an infusion of parched wheat, for two or three days. 
But the effect would not be lessened if the motion or agi- 
tation of the cask has spread the bad smell in the liquid. 
OF THE EFFLORESCENCE IN WINE. 
The efflorescence in wine is a symptom announcing its 
approaching acescence; it is the fore-runner of that kind 
of vegetation which developes itself in all those circum- 
stances, attending the decomposition of organic matter ; it 
is the rudiment of a plant. This effloroscence indic.ate& 
the degeneration of wines. The means to prevent it are 
those heretofore mentioned, when wine is becoming soor ; 
in this case the wine should be quickly consumed. 
OF SULPHUROUS FUMIGATION. 
Almost all the diseases of wines are prevented by sul- 
phuring them. It is the only way of facilitating thetr 
transportation, and suiting to all climates and temperatures 
— this operation suspends the fermentation of the Must, 
notwithstanding its tendency to ferment. Chemical science 
alone was capable of producing such important effects- 
with so trifling means; this fumigation consists in burn- 
ing sulphur in the hogsheads, and impregnating them 
with its vapor. Sulphurous matches are used for tbk, 
purpose, strips of cloth are dipped in melted sulphur — 
■some aromats, reduced into powder are sometimes mixed 
with the sulphur; such as clove.s, cinnamon, ginger, iris, 
ihyme. lavender, marjoram, &c. A lighted match is sus- 
pended in an empty hogshead, and then it is stopped up 
-—the internal air is dilated and driven out, with hissing 
by the sulphurous gas. This is repeated twice or thri*c 
and the wine is then poured into the hogshead. Wine 
may again be sulphured by another process : three 
