262 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. {1 Ocr., 1902. 
Viticulture. 
THE STRENGTH OF WINE IN WHICH THE SACCHAROMYCRS 
ELLIIPSOIDEUS CAN PERFORM ITS FUNCTIONS. 
By EK. H. RAINFORD, Viticulturist. 
It is not uncommon to read in literature dealing with winemaking that 
the limit of alcoholic strength produced in wine by fermentation is 26°5° of 
proof spirit, or 15° of absolute alcohol by volume on the grounds that, as 
ferment cells cannot live in a liquid containing more than 26°5° proof spirit, 
wine containing over that amount of alcohol must consequently be fortified. 
Thudicum and Dupré, for instance, in the “ Origin, Nature, and Uses of 
Wine,” a book accepted everywhere as a standard work, and which, by the by, 
is full of errors, state on p. 649: “ But even a wine of 26:5° of proot spirit is 
upon the limits of what is chemically possible, because fermentation even under 
the most favourable conditions is invariably arrested by the presence of about 
15 per cent. of alcohol” (266° proof spirit). 
Again, on p. 743, describing a South Australian wine, “Tavoora”: “It 
contained 27:2 per cent. of proof spirit, and was therefore alcoholized”; the 
italics are the writer’s. In Sébastian’s work on choice wines (Les vins de luxe 
par Victor Sébastian), on p. G1, is found: “ Alcohol is a powerful antiseptic, 
and arrests the development of ferments when it is added to a fermentable 
liquid to the extent of 15 per cent.” (26°6° proof spirit). Again, in a report of 
the Board of State Viticultural Commissioners, California, U.S.: “The maximum 
of alcohol which a wine can attain by the fermentation of rich musts is between 
15 and 16 per cent. If the percentage is a higher one, it is due to the artificial 
addition of alcohol” ; the italics are in the report. That is between 266° and 
28°4°, or about 27°5° of proof spirit. Other instances could be adduced, but the 
above quotations are sulficient to show that this opinion is pretty general. The 
British Government at one time adopted this view, and fixed the 1s. per gallon 
duty on wine limit at 26° proof spirit. In legal cases, experts have given 
testimony against a wine being pure on the ground that it was of a strength 
exceeding 26°5° of proof spirit. 
To show how erroneous is this idea, a short description is given in the 
article of a wine made by the writer, illustrating the existence of ferment cells in 
a wine containing 28° of proof spirit. The wine—a white wine—was made in 
February, 1901, from Verdeilho and Semillon grapes, and remained sweet after 
the fermentation was finished. As a wine of a dry character was required, a 
small quantity of fermenting must, which had been gradually inured to the 
alcoholic strength of the wine, was added to it last February, and a very 
languid fermentation began, which lasted through the summer; so feeble 
was it that the wine remained quite clear. An examination under the 
microscope from time to time revealed the presence of cells of vinous ferment 
in limited numbers. Lately a strong smell of carbonic acid at the bunghole of 
the cask showed that active fermentation was proceeding, and on tasting the 
wine the sugar was found to have disappeared, having been converted into 
alcohol by the yeast cells. 
A microscopic examination showed that the cells of Saccharomyces 
ellipsotdeus were fairly abundant, the appearance of a drop of the wine under 
the microscope, as reproduced by the Departmental Photographer, being 
illustrated on Plate XXI. 
The wine was then tested for strength by the Government Analyst, and 
found to contain exactly 28° of proof spirit, which conclusively proves that the 
cells of vinous yeast will live and perform its functions in a liquid containing 
that amount of alcohol, and that consequently wines of that strength, and 
perhaps slightly over, may be perfectly pure and natural. 
