The Cultivation of The Native Grape, and Manufacture of American Wines Part 8

KINGSESSING.

Bunch long and loose, large, shouldered; berry medium, round, pale red, with fine lilac bloom; pulpy; of fair quality, but subject to leaf-blight, and mildew.

ROGERS' HYBRID, NO. 15.

Bunch large, loose, shouldered; berry above medium, red with blue bloom, roundish-oblong, pulpy, with peculiar flavor, sweet and juicy. A showy grape, but not very good in quality, and much subject to mildew and rot. Ripens at the same time with Catawba.

CLa.s.s 5.--_Varieties unworthy of cultivation._

OPORTO.

Of all the humbugs ever perpetrated upon the grape-growing public, this is one of the most glaring. The vine, although a rank and healthy grower, is unproductive; seldom setting more than half a dozen berries on a bunch, and these are so sour, have such a hard pulp, with such a decided frost-grape taste and flavor, and are so deficient in juice, that no sensible man should think of making them into wine, much less call it, as its disseminator did, "the true port wine grape."

Ma.s.sACHUSETTS WHITE.

This was sent me some eight years ago, by B. M. WATSON, as "the best and hardiest white grape in cultivation," and he charged me the moderate sum of $5 each, for small pot plants, with hardly two eyes of ripened wood. After careful nursing of three years, I had the pleasure of seeing my labors rewarded by a moderate crop of the vilest _red_ Fox Grapes it has ever been my ill luck to try.

The foregoing have all been tried by me, and have been characterized and cla.s.sified as I have found them _here_. The following are varieties I have not fruited yet, although I have them on trial.

Varieties highly recommended by good authorities: Telegraph, Black Hawk, Rogers' Hybrids, Nos. 3, 4, 6, 9, 12, 13, 19, 22, 33, Hettie, Lydia, Charlotte, Mottled, Pauline, Wilmington, Cotaction and Miles.

There are innumerable other varieties, for which their originators all claim peculiar merits, and some of whom may prove valuable. But all who bring new varieties before the public, should consider that we have already names enough, nay, more than are good for us, and that it is useless to swell the list still more, unless we can do so with a variety, superior in some respects to our best varieties. A new grape, to claim favor at the hands of the public, should be healthy, hardy, a good grower, and productive; and of superior quality, either for the table or for wine.

There are some varieties circulated throughout the country as natives, which are really nothing but foreign varieties, or, perhaps, raised from foreign seed. They will not succeed in open air, although now and then they will ripen a bunch. The Brinkle, Canadian Chief, Child's Superb, and El Paso belong to this cla.s.s.

A really good _table_ grape should have a large amount of sugar, but tempered and made more agreeable by a due proportion of acid, as, if the acid is wanting, it will taste insipid; a tender pulp, agreeable flavor, a large amount of juice, a good sized bunch, large berry, small seeds, thin skin, and hang well to the bunch.

A good _wine_ grape should have a large amount of sugar, with the acid in due proportion, a distinctive flavor or aroma; though not so strong as to become disagreeable, and for red wines a certain amount of astringency. It is an old vintner's rule, that the varieties with small berries will generally make the best wine, as they are generally richer in sugar, and have more character than varieties with larger berries.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 28.

CLARA.--_Berries 1/2 diameter._]

WINE-MAKING.

GATHERING THE GRAPES.

Although I have described the process already, I will here again reiterate that the grapes should be thoroughly _ripe_. This does not simply mean that they are well colored. The Concord generally begins to color here the 5th of August, and we could gather the majority of our grapes, of that variety, for market, by the 15th or 20th of that month; but for wine-making we allow them to hang until the 15th or 20th of September, and sometimes into October. Thus only do we get the full amount of sugar and delicacy of aroma which that grape is capable of developing, as the water evaporates, and the sugar remains; it also loses nearly all the acidity from its pulp; and the latter, which is so tough and hard immediately after coloring, nearly all dissolves and becomes tender. The best evidences of a grape being thoroughly ripe are: 1st. The stem turns brown, and begins to shrivel; 2nd, the berry begins to shrivel around the stem; 3d, thin and transparent skin; 4th, the juice becomes very sweet, and sticks to the finger like honey or mola.s.ses, after handling the grapes for some time.

It is often the case that some bunches ripen much later on the vines.

In such a case, the ripest should be gathered first, and those that are not fully ripe remain on the vines until mature. They will ripen much quicker if the ripest bunches have been removed first.

The first implements needed for the gathering are clean wooden and tin pails and sharp knives, or better still, the small shears spoken of in a former part of this work. Each gatherer is provided with a pail, or two may go together, having a pail each, so that one can empty and the other keep filling during the time. If there are a good many unripe berries on the bunches, they may be put into a separate pail, and all that are soft will give an inferior wine. The bunch is cut with as short a stem as possible, as the stem contains a great deal of acid and astringency; every unripe or decayed berry is picked out, so that nothing but perfectly sound, ripe berries remain.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 29.]

The next implement that we need is a wooden tub or vat, to carry the grapes to the mill; or the wagon, if the vineyard is any distance from the cellar. This is made of thin boards, half-inch pine lumber generally; 3 feet high inside, 10 inches wide at the bottom, 20 inches wide at the top, being flat on one side, where it is carried on the back, and bound with thin iron hoops. It is carried by two leather-straps running over the shoulders, as shown in Fig. 29, and should contain about eight to ten pails, or a little over two bushels of grapes. The carrier can pa.s.s easily through the rows with it to any part of the vineyard, and lean it against a post until full. If the vineyard is close to the cellar or press-house, the grapes can be carried to it directly; if too far, we must provide a long tub or vat, to place on the wagon, into which the grapes are emptied. I will here again repeat that the utmost cleanliness should be observed in _all_ the apparatus; and no tub or vat should be used that is in the least degree mouldy. Everything should be perfectly sweet and clean, and a strict supervision kept up, that the laborers do not drop any crumbs of bread, &c., among the grapes, as this will immediately cause acetous fermentation. The weather should be dry and fair, and the grapes dry when gathered.

THE WINE-CELLAR.

As the wine-cellar and press-house are generally built together, I will also describe them together. A good cellar should keep about an even temperature in cold and warm weather, and should, therefore, be built sufficiently deep, arched over with stone, well ventilated, and kept dry. Where the ground is hilly, a northern or northwestern slope should be chosen, as it is a great convenience, if the entrance can be made even with the ground. Its size depends, of course, upon the quant.i.ty of wine to be stored. I will here give the dimensions of one I am constructing at present, and which is calculated to store from 15,000 to 20,000 gallons of wine. The princ.i.p.al cellar will be 100 feet long, by 18-1/2 feet wide inside, and 12 feet high under the middle of the arch. This will be divided into two compartments; the back one, at the farthest end of the cellar, to be 40 feet, which is destined to keep old wine of former vintages; as it is the deepest below the ground, it will keep the coolest temperature. It is divided from the front compartment by a wall and doors, so that it can be shut off should it become necessary to heat the other, while the must is fermenting. The other compartment will be 60 feet long, and is intended for the new wine, as the temperature will be somewhat higher, and, therefore, better adapted to the fermentation of the must. This will be provided with a stove, so that the air can be warmed, if necessary, during fermentation. This will also be closed by folding doors, 5-1/2 feet wide. There will be about six ventilators, or air-flues, on each side of these two cellars, built in the wall, constructed somewhat like chimneys, commencing at the bottom, whose upper terminus is about two feet above the arch, and closed with a grate and trap-doors, so that they can be closed and opened at will, to admit air and light. Before this princ.i.p.al cellar is an arched entrance, twenty feet long inside, also closed by folding doors, and as wide as the princ.i.p.al cellar. This will be very convenient to store empty casks, and can also be used as a fermenting room in Fall, should it be needed. The arch of the princ.i.p.al cellar will be covered with about six feet of earth; the walls of the cellar to be two feet thick. The press-house will be built above the cellar, over its entire length, and will also be divided into two rooms. The part farthest from the entrance of the cellar, to be 60 feet by 18, will be the press-house proper, with folding doors on both sides, about the middle of the building, and even with the surface ground, so that a wagon can pa.s.s in on one side and out on the other.

This will contain the grape-mill, wine-presses, apparatus for stemming, and fermenting vats for white or light-colored wine. The other part, 40 feet long, will contain an apparatus for distilling, the casks and vats to store the husks for distilling, and the vats to ferment very dark colored wines on the husks, should it be necessary. It will also be used as a shop, contain a stove, and be floored, so that it will be convenient, in wet and cold weather, to cut cuttings, &c. A large cistern, to be built on one side of the building, so that the necessary water for cleaning casks, &c., will be handy; with a force-pump, will complete the arrangement. I need hardly add here, that the whole cellar should be paved with flags or brick, and well drained, so that it will be perfectly dry.

This cellar is destined to hold two rows of casks, five feet long, on each side. For this purpose layers of strong beams are provided, upon which the casks are laid in such a manner that they are about two feet from the ground, fronting to the middle, and at least a foot or eighteen inches of s.p.a.ce allowed between them and the wall, so that a man can conveniently pa.s.s and examine them. This will leave five and a-half to six feet of s.p.a.ce between the two rows, to draw off the wine, move casks, _&c_.

This cellar will, at the present rates of work, cost about $6,000. Of course, the cellar, as before remarked, can be built according to the wants of the grape-grower. For merely keeping wine during the first winter, a common house cellar will do; but during the hot days of summer wine will not keep well in it.

APPARATUS FOR WINE-MAKING.--THE GRAPE MILL AND PRESS.

This mill can be made very simple, of two wooden rollers, fastened in a square frame, running against each other, and turned with a crank and cog-wheel. The rollers should be about nine inches in diameter, and set far enough apart to mash the berries, but not the seeds and stems. A very convenient apparatus, mill and press, is manufactured by Geiss & Brosius, Belleville, Ill., and where the quant.i.ty to be made does not exceed 2,000 gallons, it will answer every purpose. The mill has stone rollers, which can be set by screws to the proper distance, with a cutting apparatus on top, for apples in making cider, which can be taken off at will. The press is by itself, and consists of an iron screw, coming up through the platform, with a zinc tube around it to prevent the must from coming in contact with it. The platform has a double bottom, the lower one with grooves; the upper consists simply of boards, with grooves through it to allow the must to run through. These boards are held in their places by wooden pegs, and can be taken off at will. A circular hopper, about a foot in diameter, and made of laths screwed to iron rings, with about a quarter of an inch s.p.a.ce between them, encloses the zinc tube. The outer frame is constructed in the same way, is about 2-1/2 feet in diameter, and bound with strong wooden and iron hoops. The mashed grapes are poured into the frame, a close-fitting cover is put on, which is held down by a strong block, and the power is applied by an iron nut just on the top of the screw, with holes in each end to apply strong wooden levers. The apparatus is strong, simple, and convenient, and presses remarkably fast and clean, as the must can run off below, on the outside and also on the inside.

The cost of mill and press is about $90, but each can be had separately for $45.

If a large amount of grapes are to be pressed, the press should be of much larger dimensions, but may be constructed on the same principle--a strong, large platform, with a strong screw coming through the middle, and a frame made of laths, screwed to a strong wooden frame, through which the must can run off freely, with another frame around the outside of the platform. The must runs off through grooves to the lower side, where it is let off by a spout. It may be large enough to contain a hundred bushels of grapes at a single pressing, for a great deal depends upon the ability of the vintner to press a large amount just at the proper time, when the must has fermented on the husks just as long as he desires it to do.

FERMENTING VATS.

These should correspond somewhat with the size of the casks we intend to fill; but they are somewhat unhandy if they hold more than, say four hundred gallons. They are made of oak or white pine boards, 1-1/2 inch thick, bound securely by iron hoops, about three feet high, and, say, five feet wide. The bottom and inside must be worked clean and smooth, to facilitate washing. When the must is to ferment a longer time on the husks, as is often the case in red wines, a false bottom should be provided, for the purpose of holding the husks down below the surface of the must. It is made to fit the size of the vat, and perforated with holes, and held in its place by sticks of two inches square, let into the bottom of the vat, and which go through the false bottom. A hole is bored through them, and the bottom held down by means of a peg pa.s.sed through this hole. The vat is closed by a tight-fitting cover, through which a hole is bored, large enough to admit a tin tube of about an inch in diameter, to let off the gas. The vats are set high enough above the ground to admit drawing off the must through a faucet near the bottom of the vat. For those grapes which are to be pressed immediately we need no false bottoms or covers for the vats. As fermentation generally progresses very rapidly here, and it is not desirable with most of our wines to ferment them on the husks very long, as they generally have astringency enough, operations here are much more simple than in Europe.

The must is generally allowed to run into a large funnel, filled with oat straw, and pa.s.ses through a hose into the casks in the cellar. A hole can be left through the arch for that purpose, as it is much more convenient than to carry the must in buckets from the press into the casks.

It is sometimes desirable to stem the grapes, although it is seldom practiced in this country. This can be easily done by pa.s.sing the bunches rapidly over a grooved board, made somewhat in the form of a common washboard, only the grooves should be round at the bottom and the edges on top. It is seldom desirable here.

THE WINE CASKS.

These should be made of well-seasoned white oak staves, and can, of course, be of various sizes to meet the wants of the vintner. The best and most convenient size for cellar use I have found to be about 500 gallons. These are sufficiently large to develop the wine fully, and yet can be filled quick enough to not interrupt fermentation. Of course, the vintner must have some of all sizes, even down to the five-gallon keg; but for keeping wine, a cask of 500 gallons takes less room comparatively, and the wine will attain a higher degree of perfection than in smaller casks. The staves to make such a cask should be about 5 feet long, and 1-1/2 to 2 inches thick, and be the very best wood to be had. The cask will, when ready, be about as high as it is long, should be carefully worked and planed inside, to facilitate washing and have a so-called door on one end, 12 inches wide and 18 inches high, which is fastened by means of an iron bolt and screw, and a strong bar of wood. This is to facilitate cleaning; when a cask is empty, the door is taken out, and a man slips into the cask with a broom and brush, and carefully washes off all remnants of lees, etc., which, as the lees of the wine are very slimy and tenacious, cannot be removed by merely pouring in water and shaking it about. It is also much more convenient to let these large casks remain in their places, than to move them about. The casks are bound with strong iron hoops.

To prepare the new casks, and also the vats, etc., for the reception of the must, they should be either filled with pure water, and allowed to soak for several days, to draw out the tannin; then emptied, scalded with hot water, and afterwards steamed with, say two or three gallons of boiling wine; or they can be made "wine-green," by putting in about half a bushel of unslaked lime, and pouring in about the same quant.i.ty of hot water. After the lime has fallen apart, add about two quarts of water to each pound of lime, put in the bung, and turn the cask about; leaving it lie sometimes on one side, sometimes on the other, so that the lime will come in contact with every part of the cask. Then pour out the lime-water; wash once or twice with warm water, and rinse with a decoction of vine leaves, or with warm wine. Then rinse once more with cold water, and it will be fully prepared to receive the must.

This is also to be observed with old casks, which have become, by neglect or otherwise, mouldy, or have a peculiar tang.

MAKING THE WINE.

As we have our apparatus all prepared now, we can commence the operation itself. This can be done in different ways, according to the cla.s.s of wine we are about to make.

To make white, or light-colored wine, the grapes which were gathered and mashed during the day, can be pressed and put into the cask the following night. To mash them, we place the mill above one of the fermenting vats, mashing them as quick as they are carried or hauled to the press-house. The vat is simply covered with a cloth during the day.

If the season has been good, the must will make good wine without the addition of anything else. In poor seasons it will be necessary to add water and sugar, to improve its quality, but I will speak of this method in a separate chapter. In the evening, the must which will run off, is first drawn from the vat, and by some kept separate; but I think, it makes, upon the whole, a better wine, if the pressing is added to it. The husks, or mashed grapes, are then poured upon the press, and pressed until fully dry. To accomplish this the press is opened several times, and the edges of the cake, or "cheese," as some call it, are cut off with an axe or cleaver and put on top, after which they are pressed down again. The casks are then filled with the must; either completely, if it is intended that the must should ferment _above_, as it is called, or _under_, when the cask is not completely filled, so that the husks, which the must will throw up, will remain in the cask. Both methods have their advantages, but I prefer the former, with a very simple contrivance, to exclude the air, and also prevent waste. This is a siphon or tin tube, bent in the form of a double elbow, of which one end fits tightly in the bung hole, and the other empties into a dish of water, to be set on one end of the cask, through which the gas escapes, as shown in Fig. 30.

We should, however in pressing, be guided somewhat by the weather. In warm weather fermentation will commence much sooner, and be more violent, than when the weather is cold. Consequently we should press much sooner in warm weather, than when the air is cool. Late in the fall, it is sometimes advisable to leave the must a day longer on the husks, than indicated below. The cellar should be kept at an even temperature of about 60 during the first few weeks, and if it does not naturally attain this temperature, then it should be warmed by a stove, as much of the quality of the wine depends upon a thorough fermentation during the first ten days.