286 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Srpr., 1899. 
by running the fruit through the crusher and pressing as quickly as possible, 
being careful to avoid fermenting and storing in casks that have contained 
dark-coloured wines. Some of the wines exhibited were not quite bright, and 
some were smelling strongly of sulphur. This defect arises either from over- 
sulphuring, or, what is more probable, the use of preservatives, which, by 
chemical combination in the wine, slowly evolve sulphurous acid. Whatever 
the cause, the effect is to kill the natural bouquet. The writer judged the 
wines from a commercial point of view, and he considered a wine that was 
thick or reeking of sulphur was not fit to put on the market, and would give 
the preference to_a wine without those defects, even if slightly inferior in 
general quality. One very good light white wine, made from white Hermitage 
grapes, was not quite clear, and was foxy in colour; the bouquet and flavour 
were, however, very good; and if the maker will correct the detects mentioned, 
he will have a very good wine. 
In the light red class, the general defect was a coarseness and astringency, 
either due to crude manufacture or to the use of Espar grapes. This grape, 
unless vintaged at_a state of full maturity, gives a harshness to the wine very 
difficult to get rid of; it should only be used with Pineau or Hermitage in 
certain proportions. One or two of the wines were not quite clear, but the 
bouquet was good, especially in the prize-winner, if the writer remembers rightly. 
Tn making this quality of wine and the medium reds, prolonged vatting must be 
avoided, or, if the grapes used give a very dark wine, a judicious admixture of 
white grapes of not too high a density is advisable. 
In the medium whites, there was a tendency to over-sulphuring, but the 
colour and brightness were all commendable ; the prize-winner was a very agree~ 
able wine. These were the best wines shown. 
In the medium reds, the same defect noticeable in the light reds—7.e., harsh- 
ness and astringency, and some cloud, due to oxygenisation of the colouring 
matter—was apparent. A light fining would do some of these wines good, also 
blending with softer growths. The bouquet was generally good, and the wines 
sound; the raw article was there for making first-rate wines, but more attention 
in the making is required. Probably all the wines exhibited were quite bright 
when bottled. Why, then, was so large a percentage cloudy and even thick on 
testing them? Simply because the colouring matter is in a state of instability, 
the acidity of the must is insufficient to fix the colour, and, on the wine being 
oxygenised by exposure to the air, it is deposited out in an insoluble form. The 
remedy is either to make the wines lighter coloured by shorter vatting or to 
increase the acidity of the must by the addition of tartaric acid. 
The heayy whites wanted, one and all, character. The colour, brilliancy, 
and soundness left nothing to be desired; but there it ended. The prize-winner, 
by its after-taste, was evidently a wine of some age, but the bouquet was 
strangely behindhand—it should have been much better. Most of these wines 
approached perilously near the line dividing them from sweet wines. They should 
be made drier to have more character. 
The heavy reds were good all round, with good bouquet and colour, but too 
coarse. The prize-winner was a good sound wine, seven years old, of fine bouquet, 
but rather coarse. Another wine of even better quality was thrown out because 
it was quite thick and unfit to be put on the market. One very good wine, 
apparently made from Hermitage grapes, was too sweet for this class. 
The first sweet white that the writer tasted was so syrupy that all the 
others appeared quite dry after it, and he had to munch a bag of plain biscuits 
to get rid of the taste. The idea that the sweeter the wine the better it is, is a 
common mistake. Were it so, then a bag of sugar would help to take all the 
prizes in the country. Jt may be taken as a fundamental principle that the 
sugar and alcohol in this class of wine must march together. It is the strength 
of sweet wines which prevents them from cloying and nauseating. A wine- 
maker who sells a syrupy wine of low alcoholicity is dispensing an emetic. ‘The 
other exhibits were much better in this respect, the alecholicity and sweetness 
being properly balanced, but the bouquet of them all left much to be desired, 
