196 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Mar., 1898. 
The next point of importance is to see that the cellar is not too damp. A 
certain amount of humidity is beneficial in preventing the evaporation of wine, 
the loosening of hoops, &c., but, on the other hand, too much moisture is very 
dangerous, as the mouldiness of all organic matter, generated to a greater or 
less extent, cannot fail sooner or later to be communicated to the wine, either 
by exterior growth on the casks, or, what is more probable, by the formation of 
mould on the inside of empties. A quantity of wine can very easily be spoilt 
by being racked into a cask in that condition, and once mouldiness is 
established inside a cask it is very difficult to get rid of. For these reasons, 
the vigneron must take all precautions to avoid too much humidity; where the 
sides of the cellars are protected by wide verandas, the soil below will in all 
probability be fairly dry. Where there are no verandas, the rainwater must 
be drained away from the building by sloping the ground. It would be advisable 
to face the earth with concrete or asphalt, although this is not absolutely 
necessary. The walls, up to the first floor, must be of masonry. The best 
non-conducting material is concrete; after that, bricks set in cement. Care 
must be observed in excavating to see whether the dip of the strata is towards 
the cellar or away from it, as, in the former case, a collection of ground water 
may find its way from some distance into the cellar weeping through the strata. 
If it can be managed, the floor of the cellar should be paved, or at least 
a layer of concrete be put over it; an earth flooring is always to be avoided, 
for any wine, must, or cask rinsings spilt on it are absorbed, and become the 
source of germs innumerable. The cellar, moreover, can never be kept 
properly clean and free from taint as can a paved place. 
INTERNAL ARRANGEMENT. 
The internal arrangement of the cellar is more a matter for the taste and 
fancy of the vigneron, and on this point some hints will be given on a future 
occasion. For the present, it need only be mentioned that for the storage of 
light wines, like claret, hock, and chablis, the most preferable sizes are from 
250 to 500 gallons, this class of wine perfecting its qualities better in that 
bulk than in any other. For a very large vineyard, or a winery, there is 
no doubt that very extensive cellarage would be required to store all the wine 
in the above-sized casks, so it would be a necessity to increase their capacity; 
but it is most advisable to keep them as small as can be managed, even if it 
entails extra cost for the cellar and casks, as, apart from the better quality of 
the wine made, there is the contingency of wine going wrong to be reckoned 
with, and it will be better for the vigneron if the cask contains 500 gallons 
instead of 2,000. j 
In the fermenting department, avoid the use of a too large-sized fer- 
menting vat. Recollect, the greater the fermenting mass the greater the 
amount of heat evolved, which must be removed by cooling appliances, or the 
quality and soundness of the wine will suffer. Unless large amounts of grapes 
have to be milled daily, vats of 500 gallons will be found sufficient, and in an 
underground cellar will not in all probability require any artificial cooling. A 
few smaller vats will be useful for fermenting small quantities of must from 
choice varieties of grapes, and for the same purpose a certain number of small 
casks will be required in the cellar. 
Many details have been omitted in this sketch of a rational cellar, but the 
outlines should be sufficient to enable the vigneron to understand the principal 
requirements, which are—coolness, equality of temperature, absence of vibra- 
tion and odours, cleanliness, 
