Cooley's Cyclopaedia of Practical Receipts Volume Ii Part 304

1. By evenly dabbing the surface with a piece of soft glazier's putty.

2. A coating of stained rice jelly, laid on with a painter's brush (sash tool), and afterwards dabbed with a duster brush, applied endways.

3. Tissue paper, either white or coloured, applied by means of clear gum water or some pale varnish. The pattern may be lined with a pencil, and, when the whole is somewhat dry, but not hard, the lines may be cut through, and the pattern stripped off with the flat point of a knife.

4. The surface of the gla.s.s being coated with mucilage, or any pale varnish, as before, coa.r.s.ely powdered gla.s.s or quartz, reduced to a uniform state of grain by a sieve, may be sprinkled over it; when dry, the loose portion should be removed with a soft brush.

=WINE.= _Syn._ VINUM, L.; VIN, Fr. The fermented juice of the grape. The general characters and quality of wine are princ.i.p.ally influenced by climate, soil, and aspect, the nature and maturity of the grape, and the method of conducting the fermentation. The sp. gr. of the 'must' varies from 1063 to 1285, from which the proportion of saccharine matter and the ultimate alcoholic richness of the wine resulting from its fermentation may be inferred. That of Rhenish grapes seldom exceeds 1095 to 1100. Want of s.p.a.ce compels us to confine our remarks chiefly to the properties, uses, and management of grape juice after it has pa.s.sed through the stage of fermentation, or, in reality, become wine.

_Officinal Wine._ The only wine ordered by the British Colleges is sherry (WHITE WINE; VINUM XERIc.u.m--B. P., Ph. L.; VINUM ALb.u.m--Ph. E.; VINUM HISPANIc.u.m--Ph. D.); but several other wines are employed in medicine, as tonics, stimulants, antispasmodics, and restoratives, according to the circ.u.mstances of the case or the taste of the patient. In pharmacy, the less expensive Cape or marsala, or even raisin wine, is usually subst.i.tuted for sherry in the preparation of the medicated wines of the Pharmacopias.

_Varieties, characteristics, &c._ The following Tables will convey much useful information on this subject in a condensed form.

I. TABLE _of the Quant.i.ty of Alcohol in Wine_. By DR.

CHRISTISON

------------------------------------------+-----------+---------- Alcohol Proof Name, &c. of 7937 spirit per cent. per cent.

by weight by volume ------------------------------------------+-----------+---------- { Weakest 1497 3131 { Mean of 7 samples 1620 3491 Port { Strongest 1710 3727 { White 1497 3131 { Weakest 1398 3084 { Mean of 13 wines, excluding } 1537 3359 { those very long kept in cask } Sherry { Strongest 1617 3512 { Mean of 9 wines long kept in } 1472 3130 { cask in the East Indies } { Madre da Xeres 1690 3706 { Long kept in cask in } Strongest 1690 3706 Madeira{ the East Indies } Weakest 1409 3086 Teneriffe (long in cask at Calcutta) 1384 3021 Cercial 1545 3365 Lisbon (dry) 1614 3471 Shiraz 1295 2830 Amontillado 1263 2760 Claret (a first growth of 1811) 772 1695 Chateau-Latour (ditto 1825) 778 1706 Rosan (second growth of 1825) 761 1674 Ordinary Claret (Vin Ordinaire) 899 1896 Rivesaltes 931 2235 Malmsey 1286 2817 Rudesheimer. 1st quality 840 1844 Rudesheimer. Inferior 690 1519 Hambacher. Superior quality 735 1615 ------------------------------------------+-----------+----------

II. _Quant.i.ty of Alcohol_ (sp. gr. 825[270] at 60 Fahr.) _in 100 parts of Wine by volume_.

[Footnote 270: Alcohol of 825 contains 926% of real or anhydrous alcohol; or, in the language of the Excise, is about 62-1/2% o.p., and in round numbers may be said to be of about twice the strength of brandy or rum, as usually sold.]

+-----------------------+----------------------+------------------+ Names of Wines. Alcoholic content. Authority. +-----------------------+----------------------+------------------+ Alba Flora 1726 Brande. Barsac 1386 do. Bucellas 1849 do. Burgundy (average) 1457 do. Ditto 1216 Prout. Calcavella (average) 1869 Brande. Cape Madeira (do.) 2051 do. Cape Muschat 1825 do. Champagne (average) 1261 do. Ditto 1220 Fontenelle. Claret (average) 1510 Brande. Colares 1975 do. Constantia (White) 1975 do. Ditto (Red) 1892 do. Ditto (average) 1450 Prout. Cote Rotie 1232 Brande. Currant 2055 do. Elder 879 do. Frontignac (Rivesalte) 1279 do. Gooseberry 1184 do. Grape (English) 1811 do. Hermitage (Red) 1232 do. Ditto (White) 1743 do. Hock (average) 1208 do. Lachryma Christi 1970 do. Lisbon 1894 do. Lissa (average) 2541 do. Ditto (do.) 1590 Prout. Lunel 1552 Brande. Madeira (average) 2227 do. Ditto (do.) 2120 Prout. Malaga 1726 Brande. Ditto 1894 do. Malmsey Madeira 1640 do. Marsala (average) 2509 do. Ditto (do.) 1840 Prout. Nice 1463 Brande. Orange (average) 1126 do. Port (do.) 2064 Prout. Ditto (do.) 2296 Brande. Raisin (do.) 2541 do. Ditto (do.) 1590 Prout. Red Madeira (do.) 2035 Brande. Roussillon (do.) 1813 do. Sauterne 1422 do. Shiraz 1552 do. Sherry (average) 1917 do. Ditto (do.) 2380 Prout. Syracuse 2000 do. Ditto 1528 Brande. Teneriffe 1979 do. Tent 1330 do. Tokay 988 do. Vidonia 1925 do. Vin de Grave 1394 do. Zante 1705 do. +-----------------------+----------------------+------------------+

_Composition._ The const.i.tuents of wine are--alcohol, which is one of its princ.i.p.al ingredients, and on which its power of producing intoxication depends; sugar, which has escaped the process of fermentation, and which is most abundant in the sweet wines, as tokay, tent, frontignac, &c.; extractive, derived chiefly from the husk of the grape, and is extracted from it by the newly formed alcohol; tartar, or bitartrate of pota.s.sa, which const.i.tutes the most important portion of the saline matter of wine; odoriferous matter, imparting the characteristic vinous odour, depending chiefly upon the presence of nanthic acid and ether; bouquet, arising from essential oil or amyl-compounds, probably existing under the form of ethers. Besides these, small quant.i.ties of tannin, gum, acetic and malic acid, acetic ether, lime, &c., are found in wine. The specific gravity of wine depends on the richness and ripeness of the grapes used in its manufacture, the nature of the fermentation and its age. It varies from about 970 to 1041.

_Purity._ The most frequent species of fraud in the wine trade is the mixing of wines of inferior quality with those of a superior grade. In many cases the inferior kinds of foreign wines are flavoured and subst.i.tuted for the more expensive ones. This is commonly practised with Cape wines, which, after having a slight 'nuttiness' communicated to it by bitter almonds or peach kernels, a lusciousness or fulness by honey, and additional strength by a little plain spirit or pale brandy, is made to undergo the operation of 'fretting in,' and is then sold for 'sherry.'

Formerly, it was a common practice of ignorant wine-dealers to add a little litharge or acetate of lead to their inferior wines to correct their acidity, but it is believed that this highly poisonous substance is now never employed in this country, 'salt of tartar' being made to perform the same duty. The lead which is frequently detected in bottled wine, and which often causes serious indisposition, may be generally traced to shot being carelessly left in the bottles, and not to wilful fraud. Sherry is commonly coloured in Spain by the addition of must boiled down to 1/5 of its original volume; and in England, by burnt brown sugar, or spirit colouring. Amontillado (a very nutty wine) is frequently added to sherries deficient in flavour. Various other ingredients, as the essential oil of almonds, bitter almonds in substance, cherry-laurel leaves, cherry-laurel water, &c., are also employed for a like purpose. In Portugal the juice of elderberries is very commonly added to port wine to increase its colour, and extract of rhatany for the double purpose of improving its colour and imparting an astringent taste. In England beet-root, Brazil wood, the juices of elderberries and bilberries, the pressed cake of elder wine, extract of logwood, &c., are frequently added to port to deepen its colour; and oak sawdust, kino, alum, and extract of rhatany, to increase its astringency. But the most common adulterant of port wine, both in Portugal and this country, is 'jerupiga,' or 'geropiga,' a compound of elder juice, brown sugar, grape juice, and crude Portuguese brandy. That imported here contains about 45% of proof spirit, and is allowed by the Custom-house authorities to be mixed with port wine in bond. A fact.i.tious bouquet is also commonly given to wine by the addition of sweetbriar, orris root, clary, orange flowers, elder flowers, esprit de pet.i.t grain, &c.

_Tests._ These, for the most part, are applicable to all fermented liquors:

1. Richness in alcohol. This may be found by any of the methods noticed under ALCOHOLMETEY, PORTER, and TINCTURE.

2. SACCHARINE and EXTRACTIVE MATTER. The sp. gr. corresponding to the alcoholic strength, last found, is deducted from the real sp. gr. of the sample, the difference divided by 0025, or multiplied by 400, gives the weight of solid matter (chiefly sugar) in oz. per gallon (nearly).

3. NARCOTICS. These may be detected in the manner noticed at page 1630.

4. LEAD. The presence of lead or litharge in wine may be readily detected by sulphuretted hydrogen, or a solution of any alkaline sulphydrate, which will, in that case, produce a black precipitate. See WINE-TESTS.

5. POTa.s.sA or SODA improperly present. A portion of the wine is evaporated nearly to dryness, and then agitated with rectified spirit; the filtered tincture, holding in solution acetate of pota.s.sa, is then divided into two portions, one of which is tested for acetic acid, and the other for the alkali.

6. ALUM. A portion of the wine is evaporated to dryness, and ignited; the residuum is then treated with a small quant.i.ty of hydrochloric acid, the mixture evaporated to dryness, again treated with dilute hydrochloric acid, and tested with liquor of pota.s.sa. If a white bulky precipitate forms, which is soluble in an excess of caustic pota.s.sa, and which is reprecipitated by a solution of sal ammoniac, the sample examined contained alum.

7. OIL OF VITRIOL.--_a._ A drop or two of the suspected wine may be poured upon a piece of paper, which must then be dried before the fire. Pure wine at most only stains the paper, but one containing sulphuric acid causes it to become charred and rotten. The effect is more marked on paper which has been previously smeared with starch paste.

_b._ According to M. La.s.saigne, pure red wine leaves, by spontaneous evaporation, a violet or purple stain on paper; whilst that to which sulphuric acid has been added, even in quant.i.ty, only equal to 1/2000 to 1/3000th part, leaves a pink stain in drying.

8. SPURIOUS COLOURING-MATTER.--_a._ Genuine red wine yields greenish-grey precipitates with sugar of lead, and greenish ones with pota.s.sa; but those coloured with elderberries, bilberries, litmus, logwood, and mulberries, give deep blue or violet precipitates, and those coloured with Brazil wood, red sanders wood, or red beet, give red ones.

_b._ Pure red wine is perfectly decoloured by agitation with recent hydrate of lime.

_c._ Dissolve a piece of caustic potash in a small quant.i.ty of the liquid to be experimented upon. If no deposit is formed, and the wine a.s.sumes a greenish shade, there is no artificial coloration. A violet-coloured deposit indicates the presence of elderberries or mulberries, a red one indicates the presence of beetroot for Brazil wood, red violet that of logwood. If the deposit is blue violet, privet berries have been employed; and if of a pale violet the coloration is due to litmus.

_d._ For the detection of the princ.i.p.al colouring matters employed in the sophistication of wines, M. Chancel proceeds as follows:--He takes 10 c.

c. of wine, and adds 3 c.c. of a dilute solution of subacetate of lead, allowing the mixture to subside for a few minutes to make sure that the precipitation is complete. If this is not the case a slight excess of the reagent is added.

After stirring and heating for a few moments it is thrown on a very small filter, the filtrate collected in a test-tube, and the precipitate washed three or four times in hot water. If the filtrate is coloured magenta is present, and may be sought for by the aid of the spectroscope. But if the wine contains a mere trace of this colour, it is retained in the precipitate, and is sought for in the manner directed below. To discover the colouring matter which may be contained in the plumbic precipitate, it is treated upon the filter with a few c.c. of a solution of carbonate of pota.s.sa (2 parts of the dry salt to 100 of water), taking care to repa.s.s _the same solution_ several times through the precipitate. Any magenta present is thus extracted, along with carminamic (ammoniacal cochineal) and sulphindigotic acid. The colouring matters of logwood and of alkanet remain undissolved.

With a genuine wine the alkaline liquid takes a very faint yellow, or greenish-yellow tint. For the detection of magenta the filtrate is mixed with a few drops of acetic acid, and it is then shaken up with amylic alcohol. The magenta dissolves in this alcohol with a fine rose tint, and its presence is proved by spectroscopic examination. Carminamic and sulphindigotic acids remain in the aqueous solution, and are decanted off.

A couple of drops of sulphuric acid are added, and the mixture is again shaken up with amylic alcohol, which now dissolves the ammoniacal cochineal. It may be detected by the spectroscope. The sulphindigotic acid remains undissolved in the amylic alcohol, and may be found in the blue aqueous residual liquor by means of the spectroscope. Logwood is most conveniently sought for in a fresh portion of the wine by digestion with a little precipitated carbonate of lime, adding a few drops of lime-water, and filtering. In a natural wine the filtrate has a faint greenish-yellow colour, but if logwood is present it takes a fine red shade, and the absorption bands of logwood may be detected with the spectroscope. On treating the lead precipitate above mentioned with an alkaline sulphide, washing with boiling water, and then treating with alcohol, the colouring matter of alkanet, if present, is dissolved, and may be detected by spectroscopic examination.[271]

[Footnote 271: 'Comptes Rendus', February 19th, 1877 ('Chem. News', x.x.xv, 106).]

_e._ (Dr Dupre.) The colouring matter of pure red wine does not pa.s.s through the dialyser. The dialysate from pure wine is therefore colourless, or shows but a slight purplish coloration, such as water would a.s.sume on the addition of a small quant.i.ty of the wine. A yellow or brownish-yellow dialysate indicates an adulteration with logwood, Brazil wood, or cochineal, the colouring matters of which may be identified by the chemical and optical tests employed for this purpose. The ammoniacal solution of the colouring matter of cochineal yields three well-marked absorption bands.

_f._ For the detection in wine of fuchsine only, the following methods are given by M. E. Jacquemin: 1. A small quant.i.ty of gun cotton is heated for a few minutes in 10-20 c.c. of the wine, and then washed with the water.

The nature of the coloration (if any) imparted to the cotton is now identified by means of solution of ammonia, which decolorises rosaniline, but turns archil violet.

2. 100 c.c. of the wine are boiled to expel the alcohol, and then boiled for some time with white Berlin wool, previously moistened with water. The colour imparted to the wool by fuchsine is retained after washing, and may be distinguished from archil by ammonia.

3. 100-200 c.c. of the wine are boiled to expel the alcohol, then allowed to cool, mixed with ammonia in excess, and shaken with ether. By immersing white wool in the ethereal solution, and evaporating the latter, the wool acquires the characteristic colour of fuchsine.

9. ARTIFICIAL FLAVOURING. This can only be detected by a discriminating and sensitive palate,

10. ARTIFICIAL BOUQUET. The substances added for this purpose may often be readily detected by a comparison of the sample with another of known purity.

_Uses._ The uses of wine as a beverage are too well known to require description. As a medicine, port wine is most esteemed as an astringent and tonic; and sherry and Madeira as stimulants and restoratives, in diseases where the acidity of the former would be objectionable; champagne is reputed diuretic and excitant, but its effects are not of long duration; and the Rhenish wines are regarded as refrigerant, diuretic, and slightly aperient. Claret, Rhenish, and Moselle wines are said to be the most wholesome. In _pharmacy_, wine is used as a menstruum.

MANAGEMENT OF WINE.

_Age._ The sparkling wines are in their prime in from 18 to 30 months after the vintage, depending on the cellaring and climate. Weak wines, of inferior growths, should be drunk within 12 or 15 months, and be preserved in a very cool cellar. Sound, well-fermented, full-bodied still wines are improved by age, within reasonable limits, provided they be well preserved from the air, and stored in a cool place, having a pretty uniform temperature. See _Maturation_ (_below_).

_Bottling._ The secret of bottling wine with success consists in the simple exercise of care and cleanliness. The bottles should be all sound, clean, and dry, and perfectly free from the least mustiness or other odour. The corks should be of the best quality, and immediately before being placed in the bottles should be compressed by means of a 'cork-squeezer.' For superior or very delicate wines, the corks are usually prepared by placing them in a copper or tub, covering them with weights to keep them down, and then pouring over them boiling water holding a little pearlash in solution. In this state they are allowed to remain for 24 hours, when they are well stirred about in the liquor, drained, and re-immersed for a second 24 hours in hot water, after which they are well washed and soaked in several successive portions of clean and warm rainwater, drained, dried out of contact with dust, put into paper bags, and hung up in a dry place for use. The wine should be clear and brilliant, and if it be not so, it must undergo the process of 'fining' before being bottled. In fact, it is a common practice with some persons to perform this operation whether the wine require it or not; as, if it had been mixed and doctored, it "amalgamates and ameliorates the various flavours." The bottles, corks, and wine, being ready, a fine clear day should be preferably chosen for the bottling, and the utmost cleanliness and care should be exercised during the process. Great caution should also be observed to avoid shaking the cask so as to disturb the 'bottoms.' The remaining portion that cannot be drawn off clear should be pa.s.sed through the 'wine-bag,' and, when bottled, should be set apart as inferior to the rest. The coopers, to prevent breakage and loss, place each bottle, before corking it, in a small bucket, having a bottom made of soft cork, and which is strapped on the knee of the bottler. They thus seldom break a bottle, though they 'flog in' the corks very hard. When the process is complete the bottles of wine are stored in a cool cellar, and on no account upright, or in damp straw, but on their sides, in sweet, dry sawdust, or sand.

_Bouquet._ See _Flavouring_ and _Perfuming_.

_Brandying._ Brandy is frequently added to weak or vapid wines, to increase their strength or to promote their preservation. In Portugal, one third of brandy is commonly added to port before shipping it for England, as without this addition it generally pa.s.ses into the acetous fermentation during the voyage. A little good brandy is also usually added to sherry before it leaves Spain. By the regulation of the Customs of England, 10% of brandy may be added to wines in bond, and the increased quant.i.ty is only charged the usual duty on wine. The addition of brandy to wine injures its proper flavour, and hence it is chiefly made to port, sherry, and other wines, whose flavour is so strong as not to be easily injured.

Even when brandy is added to wines of the latter description, they require to be kept for some time to recover their natural flavour. To promote this object, the wine-doctors employ the process called 'fretting in,' by which they effect the same change in 3 or 4 weeks, as would otherwise require some months, at the very least.

_Cellaring._ A wine-cellar should be dry at bottom, and either covered with good hard gravel or be paved with flags. Its gratings or windows should open towards the north, and it should be sunk sufficiently below the surface to ensure an equable temperature. It should also be sufficiently removed from any public thoroughfare, so as not to suffer vibration from the pa.s.sing of carriages. Should it not be in a position to maintain a regular temperature, arrangements should be made to apply artificial heat in winter, and proper ventilation in summer.

_Colouring._ Wines are as commonly doctored in their colour as their flavour. A fawn-yellow and golden-sherry yellow are given by means of tincture or infusion of saffron, turmeric, or safflower, followed by a little spirit colouring, to prevent the colour being too lively. All shades of amber and fawn, to deep brown and brandy colour, are given by burnt sugar. Cochineal (either alone or with a little alum) gives a pink colour; beet-root and red sanders give a red colour; the extracts of rhatany and logwood, and the juice of elderberries, bilberries, &c., give a port-wine colour.

_Crusting._ To make port wine form a crust on the inside of the bottles, a spoonful of powdered catechu, or 1/2 a spoonful of finely powdered cream of tartar, is added to each bottle before corking it, after which the whole is well agitated. It is also a common practice to put the crust on the bottle before putting the wine into it, by employing a hot saturated solution of red tartar, thickened with gum and some powdered tartar.

_Deacetification._ This is effected by the cautious addition of either salt of tartar or carbonate of soda. Wine so treated soon gets insipid by exposure and age; and, without care, the colour of red wines is thus frequently spoiled.