Preservation of Grapes and their Unfermented Juice* 
17*3 
m our own country, has lessened, and even 
the wines we have made to a considerable 
extent to the south and west, will not, it is 
believed, continue to afford a profitable sale. 
Large quantities have, for many years, been 
furnished from the Swiss settlements on the 
banks of the Ohio ; and from 6,000 to 10,000 
barrels are annually furnished from the 
Scupenaugh grape in North and South 
Carolina, which finds a profitable market in 
our city under the captivating title of London 
particular, Teneriffe, Sherry, &c. 
The cultivation of the grape is extending, 
perhaps, at this moment, faster than at any 
former period in the history of our country, 
and as our forests are removed, our lands 
cultivated, and our improvements in every 
species of farm husbandry multiply, we must 
look for an increased attention to the luxuries 
of life, among which the grape especially, in 
ancient times, ranked as one of the first. 
Our object in the present brief article is not 
to discourage the production,of this delicious 
fruit, but in accordance with the spirit of the 
age, to give some directions for its preserva¬ 
tion and use in its new, more delicious, and 
more healthful forms. 
Many species of the grape itself may be 
preserved in all their richness and perfection, 
by simply cutting off the clusters and packing 
away carefully from the influence of the at¬ 
mosphere in any close vessel, between layers 
of some soft indestructible material, to pre¬ 
vent their injury from pressure or otherwise. 
Sawdust or any kind of bran which has 
been thoroughly baked, is best for this pur¬ 
pose. The moisture is thus entirely ex¬ 
pelled, and it is in a condition to absorb any 
moisture that may escape from the fruit, by 
which its preservation is effectually secured. 
In this way the grape may be preserved for 
use through many years, and afford at all 
times the most delicious fruit for entertain¬ 
ments or deserts. 
But its more easy and more durable, and 
perhaps, on the whole, more useful preserva¬ 
tion, would be in the form of a liquid, which 
is, under all circumstances, and for any 
length of time, free from liability to injury 
or waste. This can be easily done by any 
one having a surplus of grapes, by evaporating 
a certain portion of the juice, as soon as it is 
pressed from the fruit, which carries off the 
alcohol that begins to form immediately after 
the fruit matures, and with it a considerable 
portion of the water existing in the juice, 
leaving a thick, sweet, pleasant liquid, com¬ 
monly distinguished as must. This may be 
preserved in bottles or casks for an indefinite 
period, and affords at all times, when diluted 
with 5 or 6 times its bulk of water, a health • 
ful and delicious drink. 
This innocent, and to the unvitiated taste, 
most acceptable form of the liquid fruit of 
the vine, is on good authority, supposed to 
have been the beverage which was generalhj 
referred to by the sacred and many of the 
profane writers, by the term wine. In direct 
proof of this, we*have numerous allusions by 
Isaiah: “ new wine is found in the clusters,” 
and “now shall the sons of the strangers 
drink thy must ;” and “ they that gather the 
vintage shall drink it.” In the feast of the 
Passover, Moses writes expressly, “neither 
shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy 
quarters,” which Gesenius, an able orientalist, 
says, applies to wine as well as bread, an 
interpretation sanctioned by the Jews of the 
present day, as no wine , in its common ac¬ 
ceptation, is used by them during this period, 
but a liquid, formed by steeping raisins in 
water for some days, which yields a product 
similar to the juice of newly-expressed 
grapes. The expression “ eat ye of the fruit 
of the vine,” and “ I will give the fruit of 
the land, corn, and wine and oil, and kine 
and flocks of sheep,” can refer only to the 
use of the unfermented juice of the grape , 
which was in general use by the Hebrews 
and other ancient nations, and in this condi¬ 
tion, is a highly nutritious food , which the 
fermented is not. “ The priest of the Most 
nigh God brought forth bread and wine” to 
Abraham and his hosts, and it is not likely 
that so discreet and exemplary a man as 
Melchizedek, would have placed the means 
of indiscriminate debauchery in the hands of 
an uninformed and gluttonous soldiery 
Zechariah says, “ Corn shall make the young 
man cheerful, and new wine the maids.” We 
have no evidence that the lords of creation 
have ever indulged the weaker sex in stronger 
potations than they allowed themselves, and 
of course must conclude, the wine they gave 
the fair Jewess, no more calculated to intoxi¬ 
cate them, than the corn they ate themselves. 
“ Wine and milk,” are frequently associated in 
the Scriptures as food; both Isaiah and 
Solomon in his Canticles, repeatedly mention 
them together, and must , though liquid, like 
milk, is nutritious food. 
Homer also speaks of rearing children 
with honey, milk, and wine —could a person 
of Homers capacity have recommended 
fermented wine for children % Milton in his 
immortal Paradise Lost says, “ For drink, the 
grape she crushes, inoffensive must , and 
meaths from many a berry j ” a graphic 
