SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR 
337 
mellow, or it may be drawn into bottles; or re-drawn into 
casks or demijohns and kept for two years, and then bot- 
tled for use. 
MASHING. 
There is a different process for making wine practiced 
in Ohio than the foregoing, which may not suit our climate 
in all its particulars. It is here subjoined, according to 
Reemelin : 
“The practice most recommended is to mash the berries 
upon the stems effectually, and any method which ac- 
complishes this without too much bruising the comb or 
crushing the kernel, may be adopted. The more expe- 
ditiously this is done, and the sooner the grapes can be 
got to the press without unnecessary exposure to the at- 
mosphere, the better. (Approved.) 
PRESSING. 
H “A.fter the grapes are mashed, they should be transferred 
as soon as possible to the wine press. The sap or juice 
which first flows from the grapes makes the best wine, 
and that which is last expressed is somewhat inferior. In 
this country, the manufacture of wine is so much in its in- 
fancy, that very few persons attempt to preserve the nice 
distinction in the quality of wines which prevails ia Europe 
and the wine is generally thrown promiscuously into the 
cask. (True.) Cleanliness and dispatch in mashing and 
pressing cannot be too strongly enjoined. Grapes should 
be mashed and pressed the same day they are gathered, 
and the juice transferred to the cellar as soon as possible, 
and not later than the evening. The casks and vats should 
be all clean and prepared before operations are com- 
menced. The size of these should be equal to the quan- 
tity of wine expected to be made. The larger the quan- 
tity fermenting in one body, the steadier is the fermenta- 
tion and tiie better the wine. A wine house and a cellar 
underneath, is desirable in every vineyard of a size suf- 
ficient to justify the expense. (All very good.) 
treatment op the wine. 
“The young wine fresh from the press is filled into the 
casks in the cellar. These casks should be placed upon 
scantling or scaffolding, and not upon the ground in the 
cellar, (This is a necessary precaution.) They should 
be filled only three-fourths full. The wine will soon com- 
mence fermentation, generally within the next twenty- 
four hours. Tlie mass bubbles, as the cider does, during 
fermentation, and if the casks were entirely filled, much 
of it would run over. It ejects carbonic acid, and also 
many of the finer aromatic essences escape. 
“Many devices have been tiied to retain these latter. 
The process adopted in making champagne is for the pur- 
pose of securing this great dissideratum, and thus the 
greater part of the carbonic acid and these finer escences 
are retained.’’ 
In this climate, even with the advantage of proper wine 
houses and cellars, it is very doubtful whether filling a 
cask, (with wine to ferment,) only three-fourths full, 
would produce good wine; it certainly would make ex- 1 
cellent vinegar. Herbemont strongly recommends that • 
the casks or vessels containing the must, should be kept j 
full during the process of fermentation, having ascertained | 
from experience, that any considerable vacuum in the 
cask would cause the wine to run into the acetous state 
To preserve the fine qualities of the wine while in a state 
of fermentation is all-important, but some of these essences 
will escape under any treatment ; it i^ best, therefore, to 
avoid extremes. To fill the cask then just full enough to 
retain all the bubbles and scum within the cask during 
the earlier part of the fermentation, and keeping the bung 
hole covered with a cloth v. ith a moderate weight over it, 
and subsequently gradually to fill up the cask, and final- 
ly to remove the scum when the fermentation begins to 
subside. This is probably the safest course, but experi- 
ments can be made on the Ohio plan, to ascertain if it will 
succeed in our climate. 
Reemelin’s directions continued: — 
“The securing the finer essences of the wine, may be at- 
tained sufficiently for our purpose by a simple contri- 
vance — 
“A tube of block tin having two arms is inserted into the 
bung an inch or more, with the shorter arm immersed ia 
a crock of water, resting on the cask. As soon as the 
fermentation shall have fairly commenced, the carbonic 
acid will escape through the water. As the fermentation 
and its consequent pressure subsides, much of the carbonic 
acid and many of the aromas, so essential to fine flavored 
wine, are retained. Great advantage is also gained there- 
by in rendering it less necessary to keep watch over the 
fermentation, and to close the cask as soon as the fernsen- 
tation shall have ceased; the external atmosphere being at 
all times excluded, the oxygen of air cannot penetrate to 
the fermenting mass. (But by this mode, the scum and 
trash on the top of the wine remains there, till the wine is 
drawn out ! and besides, should the water be drank out of 
the crock by rats, or the crock by accident be knocked 
off the cask, in that case the air would rush into the cask 
and the wine would become sour.) When this plan is 
not adopted, the bung must not be fastened during the 
fermentation, as this would cause the cask to burst. As 
soon as the fermentation is over drive in the bung tightly. 
(What follows is similar to the Herbemont mode, witk 
slight variations, which are approved.) After the more 
violent fermentation is passed, fill the casks brimfull, and 
for four weeks re-fill at least once a week, and afterwards 
till late in the spring, re- fill once a month. In Europe, 
where wine is a chief element in the food of families, one 
cask is kept for daily use, and from this the other casks 
are replenished. In any cask that cannot be kept full, 
the vacant space should be burned out with brimstone, as 
hereafter described, at least once a month. The object of 
this being to keep it perfectly sweet. 
Empty wine casks should be thus burnt out once ia 
each quarter of a year, especially just before filling or ii*- 
mediately after emptying them. Before burning, the casks 
should be thoroughly washed out. Tha brimstone wifi 
not burning unless the casks are nearly clean. 
PREPARING THE BRIMSTONE. 
Put common brimstone in a pot over a slow fire,mekU 
slow, or it may ignite. When melted, draw through it 
strips of stout paper, an inch wide and a foot long, and 
hold them in the air a few minutes till the brimstone har- 
dens. 
To burn out a cask, take out the bung, and after set- 
ting fire to one of these strips, quickly insert it into the 
cask, and drive the bung home upon it, so as to hold it 
suspended while it burns. Then dip a sponge in good 
brandy, fastened to a wire, and insert into the cask as 
with the brimstone slip. 
In March or April draw off the wine into other casks. 
.About the time that the grape vine is in bloom, the wine 
undergoes another fermentation in the cellar again form- 
ing small lees. Wine becomes generally clear a lew weeks 
after it is put into the casks in the fall, some persons thea 
draw it olt. (It is preferable to do this in the spring) This 
gives the wane a milder taste, but at the expense of 
strength. Our wines being naturally strong, this may be 
done without injury. Wine may be drawn into bottles 
in the fall when one year old, but it will improve more by- 
letting it remain in the casks two or three years. It is 
observed that in the fitregoing process theie is neitha: 
sugar nor brandy used in making the wine — every effort 
then should be made thus to produce it; if it can be done 
in our climate ; and it may succeed when we come to have 
(as they have in wine countries) cellars from 15 to 20 feet 
deep, and arched with brick or stone. Hence, their wines 
