The Cultivation of The Native Grape, and Manufacture of American Wines Part 9

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 30.]

When violent fermentation has ceased, say after about ten or twelve days, and the must has become quiet, the cask should be closed with a tight bung, and the wine is left until it is clear. In about two to three months it ought to be perfectly clear and fine--is then racked, _i.e._, drawn from the lees, by means of a faucet, and put into clean, sweet casks. It is very important that the casks are "wine-seasoned,"

that is, have no other tang than of wine. For must, fresh brandy or whiskey casks may be used, but after the wine has fermented, it will not do to use such, as the wine will acquire the smell and taste of the liquor. When a cask has been emptied, it should be carefully cleaned, as before described, by entering at the door, or with smaller casks, by taking out the head. After it is thoroughly cleansed, it may be fumigated slightly, by burning a small piece of sulphured paper, or a nutmeg in it, and then filled. To keep empty casks in good condition they should, after cleaning, be allowed to become thoroughly dry, when they are sulphured, closed tightly, and laid away in the cellar. The operation of sulphuring should be repeated every six weeks. If wanted for use, they are simply rinsed with cold water.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 31.]

For racking the wine, we should have: 1st a large bra.s.s faucet. 2d.

Pails of a peculiar shape, wider at the top, to prevent wastage. 3d. A wooden funnel, as shown in Fig. 31, to hold about six gallons. In racking--first carefully lift the bung of the cask, as the exclusion of air from above would cause a gurgling motion in the cask, if tapped below, which would stir up the lees in the bottom. Then, after having loosened with a hammer the wooden peg, closing the tap hole, let your a.s.sistant hold the pail opposite the hole, hold the faucet in your right hand, and with the left, withdraw the plug, inserting the faucet quickly. Drive it in firmly with a hammer, and you are ready for the work.

Do not fully open the faucet at first, because the first pailful is generally not quite clear, and should run slowly. You can keep this by itself; and this, and the last from the lees, is generally put into a cask together and allowed to settle again. It will make a good, clear wine after a few weeks. As soon as the wine runs quite clear and limpid, it can be put into the cask destined to receive it, and you can let it run as fast as it can be emptied. When the wine has run off down to the tap hole, the cask may be carefully raised on the other end, one inserting a brick or piece of board under it, while the other lifts gently and slowly. This may be repeated several times, as long as the wine runs clear; and even the somewhat cloudy wine may be put with the first pailful into a separate cask. As soon as it comes thick or muddy, it is time to stop. The lees are emptied out, and will, if distilled, make a fine flavored and very strong brandy.

This treatment can be applied to all white and light-colored wines, when it is not desirable to have a certain astringency in the wine. The Catawba, Concord, Herbemont, Delaware, Rulander, Ca.s.sady, Taylor, Louisiana, Hartford Prolific, and Cunningham should all be treated in a similar manner. The Concord, although it will, under this treatment, make only a light red wine, of which the color can be changed to dark red by fermenting on the husks, is not desirable if treated in the latter manner; as the peculiar foxy aroma of the grape will be imparted to the must to such a degree, as to make the flavor disagreeable, I shall recur to the subject of flavor in wines in another chapter.

To make red wine, the must should be fermented on the husks, as generally the darkest color is desired, and also, a certain astringency, which the wine will acquire princ.i.p.ally from the seeds, skins, and stems of the grapes, which contain the tannin. The grapes are mashed, and put into the fermenting vat, of the kind described before, with false bottoms. After the vat is filled about three-fourths the false bottom is put on, the husks are pressed down by it, until they are covered about six inches by the must, and the cover put on. It is seldom desirable here to ferment longer than three days on the husks, if the weather is warm--in a temperature of 60--two days will often be enough, as the wine will become too rough and astringent by an excessively long fermentation. Only experience will be the proper guide here, and also the individual taste. It will be generally time to press, when the must has changed its sweet taste, and acquired a somewhat rough and bitter one. Where it is desired to make a very dark colored wine, without too much astringency, the grapes should be stemmed, as most of the rough and bitter taste is in the stems; and it can then be fermented on the husks for six or eight days. In this manner the celebrated Burgundy wines are made; also most of the red wines of France and Germany. Many of them are even allowed to go through the whole process of fermentation, and the husks are filled into the cask with the must, through a door, made in the upper side of the cask; and it there remains, until the clear wine is drawn off. This is seldom desirable here, however, as our red wine grapes have sufficient astringency and color without this process. The treatment during fermentation, racking, etc., is precisely the same as with white wine, with only this difference, that the red wine is generally allowed to stay longer on the lees; for our object in making this cla.s.s of wine is different than in making white, or so-called Schiller or light red wine. In white and light colored wines we desire smoothness and delicacy of bouquet and taste; in dark red wines, we desire astringency and body, as they are to be the so-called stomach or medical wines. It is therefore generally racked but once, in the latter part of February or March, and the white and light colored wines are racked in December or January, as soon as they have become clear--and again in March. We also use no sulphur in fumigating the casks, as it takes away the color to a certain extent. We generally do not use anything, but simply clean the casks well, in racking red wine.

I will say a few words in regard to _under_ fermentation. If this method is to be followed, the casks are not filled, but enough s.p.a.ce left to allow the wine to ferment, without throwing out lees and husks at the bung. The bung is then covered, by laying a sack filled with sand over it, and when fermentation is over--as well by this as by the other method--the casks are filled with must or wine, kept in a separate cask for the purpose. The casks should always be kept well filled, and must be looked over and filled every two or three weeks, as the wine will continually lose in quant.i.ty, by evaporation through the wood of the casks. The casks should be varnished or brushed over with linseed oil, as this will prevent evaporation to some extent.

In wine making, and giving the wine its character, we can only be guided by practice and individual taste, as well as the prevailing taste of the consuming public. If the prevailing taste is for light colored, smooth and delicate wines, we can make them so, by pressing immediately, and racking soon, and frequently. If a dark colored, astringent wine is desired, we can ferment on the husks, and leave it on the lees a longer period. There is a medium course, in this as in everything else; and the intelligent vintner will soon find the rules which should guide him, by practice with different varieties.

Among the wines to be treated as dark red, I will name Norton's Virginia, Cynthiana, Arkansas, and Clinton, and, I suppose, Ives'

Seedling. It would be insulting to these n.o.ble wines to cla.s.s with them the Oporto, which may make a very dark colored liquid, but no _wine_ worth the name, unless an immense quant.i.ty of sugar is added, and enough of water to dilute the peculiar vile aroma of that grape.

AFTER TREATMENT OF THE WINE.

Even if the wine was perfectly fine and clear, when drawn off, it will go through a second fermentation as soon as warm weather sets it--say in May or June. If the wine is clear and fine, however, the fermentation will be less violent, than if it is not so clear, as the lees, which the wine has never entirely deposited; act as they ferment.

It is not safe or judicious, therefore, to bottle the wine _before_ this second fermentation is over. As soon as the wine has become perfectly clear and fine again--generally in August or September--it can be bottled. For bottling wine we need: 1st. clean bottles. 2d. good corks, which must first be scalded with hot water, to soften them, and draw out all impurities, and then soaked in cold water. 3d. a small funnel. 4th. a small faucet. 5th. a cork-press, of iron or wood. 6th. a light wooden mallet to drive in the corks.

After the faucet has been inserted in the cask, fill your bottles so that there will be about an inch of room between the cork and the wine.

Let them stand about five minutes before you drive in the cork, which should always be of rather full size, and made to fit by compressing it with the press at one end. Then drive in the cork with the mallet, and lay the bottles, either in sand on the cellar floor, or on a rack made for that purpose. They should be laid so that the wine covers the cork, to exclude all air.

The greater bulk of the wine, however, if yet on hand; can be kept in casks. All the wine to be kept thus, should be racked once in about six months, and the casks kept well filled. Most of our native wines, however, are generally sold after the second racking in March, and a great many even as soon as clear--in January.

DISEASES OF THE WINE AND THEIR REMEDIES.

These will seldom occur, if the wine has been properly treated. Cases may arise, however, when it will become necessary to rack the wine, or fine it by artificial means.

TREATMENT OF FLAT AND TURBID WINE.

The cause of this is generally a want of Tannin. If the wine has a peculiar, flat, soft taste, and looks cloudy, this is generally the case. Draw the wine into another cask, which has been well sulphured, and add some pulverized tannin, which can be had in every drug store.

The tannin may be dissolved in water--about an ounce to every two hundred gallons of wine--and the wine well stirred, by inserting a stick at the bung. Should it not have become clear after about three weeks, it should be fined. This can be done, by adding about an ounce of powdered gum-arabic to each forty gallons, and stirring the wine well when it has been poured in. Or, take some wine out of the casks--add to each forty gallons which it contains the whites of ten eggs, whipped to foam with the wine taken out--pour in the mixture again--stir up well, and bung up tight. After a week the wine will generally be clear, and should then be drawn off.

USE OF THE HUSKS AND LEES.

These should be distilled, and will make a very strong, fine flavored brandy. The husks are put into empty barrels or vats--stamped down close, and a cover of clay made over them, to exclude the air. They will thus undergo a fermentation, and be ready for distillation in about a month. They should be taken fresh from the press, however; for if they come into contact with the air, they will soon become sour and mouldy. The lees can be distilled immediately. Good fresh lees, from rather astringent wines are also an excellent remedy when the wine becomes flat, as before described.

DR. GALL'S AND PETIOL'S METHOD OF WINE MAKING.

The process of wine making before described, however, can only be applied in such seasons, and with such varieties of grapes, that contain all the necessary elements for a good wine in due proportion.

For unfavorable seasons, with such varieties of grapes as are deficient in some of the princ.i.p.al ingredients, we must take a different course--follow a different method. To see our way clearly before us in this, let us first examine which are the const.i.tuent parts of must or grape juice. A chemical a.n.a.lysis of must, shows the following result:

Grape juice contains sugar, water, free acids, tannin, gummy and mucous substances, coloring matter, fragrant or flavoring substances, (aroma bouquet). A good wine should contain all these ingredients in due proportion. If there is an excess of one, and a want of the other, the wine will lose in quality. Must, which contains all of these, in due proportion, we call _normal_ must, and only by determining the amount of sugar and acids in this so-called normal must, can we gain the knowledge how to improve such must, which does not contain the necessary proportion of each. The frequent occurrence of unfavorable seasons in Europe, when the grapes did not ripen fully, and were sadly deficient in sugar, set intelligent men to thinking how this defect could be remedied; and a grape crop, which was almost worthless, from its want of sugar, and its excess of acids, could be made to yield at least a fair article, instead of the sour and unsaleable article generally produced in such seasons. Among the foremost who experimented with this object in view I will here name CHAPTAL, PETIOL; but especially DR. LUDWIG GALL, who has at last reduced the whole science of wine-making to such a mathematical certainty, that we stand amazed only, that so simple a process should not have been discovered long ago. It is the old story of the egg of Columbus; but the poor vintners of Germany, and France, and we here, are none the less deeply indebted to those intelligent and persevering men for the incalculable benefits they have conferred upon us. The production of good wine is thus reduced to a mathematical certainty; although we cannot in a bad season, produce as high flavored and delicate wines, as in the best years, we can now always make a fair article, by following the simple rules laid down by DR. GALL. When this method was first introduced, it was calumniated and despised--called adulteration of wine, and even prohibited by the governments of Europe; but, DR. GALL fearlessly challenged his opponents to have his wines a.n.a.lyzed by the most eminent chemists; which was repeatedly done, and the results showed that they contained nothing but such ingredients which pure wine should contain; and since men like VON BABO, DOBEREINER and others have openly endorsed and recommended gallizing, prejudice is giving way before the light of scientific knowledge.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 32.]

But to determine the amount of sugar and acids contained in the must we need a few necessary implements. These are:

THE MUST SCALE OR SACCHAROMETER.

The most suitable one now in use is the _Oechsle's_ must scale, constructed on the principle that the instrument sinks the deeper into any fluid, the thinner it is, or the less sugar it contains. Fig. 32 shows this instrument, "which is generally made of silver, or German silver, although they are also made of gla.s.s. A, represents a hollow cylinder--best made of gla.s.s, filled with must to the brim, into which place the must scale B. It is composed of the hollow float _a_, which keeps it suspended in the fluid; of the weight _c_, for holding in a perpendicular position; and of the scale _e_ divided by small lines into from fifty to one hundred degrees. Before the gauge is placed in the must, draw it several times through the mouth, to moisten it--but allow no saliva to adhere to it. When the guage ceases to descend, note the degree to which it has sunk; after which press it down with the finger a few degrees further, and on its standing still again, the line to which the must reaches, indicates its so-called weight, expressed by degrees." The must should be weighed in an entirely fresh state, before it shows any sign of fermentation, and should be free from husks, and pure.

This instrument, which is indispensable to every one who intends to make wine, can be obtained in nearly every large town, from the prominent opticians. JACOB BLATTNER, at St. Louis keeps them for sale.

The saccharometer will indicate the amount of sugar in the must, and its use is so simple, that every one can soon become familiar with it.

The next step in the improvement of wines was to determine the amount of acids the must contained, and this problem has also been successfully solved by the invention of the acidimeter:

THE ACIDIMETER AND ITS USE.

"The first instrument of this kind which came into general use, was one invented by DR. OTTO, and consists of a gla.s.s tube, from ten to twelve inches in length, half an inch in width, and closed at the lower end.

Fig. 33 shows OTTO'S Acidimeter.

"The tube is filled to the part.i.tion line _a_, with tincture of litmus.

The must to be examined, before it has begun to ferment is then poured into the tube, until it reaches the line 0. The blue tincture of litmus, which would still be blue, if water had been added, is turned into rose-color by the action of the acids contained in the must.

"If a solution of 1,369 per cent, of caustic ammonia is added to this red fluid, and the tube is turned around to effect the necessary mixture, keeping its mouth closed with the thumb, after the addition of more or less of the ammonical fluid, it will change into violet. This tinge indicates the saturation of the acids, and the height of the fluid in the tube now shows the quant.i.ty of acid in the must, by whole, half and fourth parts per cent. The lines marked 1, 2, 3, 4, indicate whole per cents.; the short intermediate lines, one-fourth per cents."

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 33.]

When DR. GALL, shortly before the vintage of 1850, first publicly recommended the dilution of the acids, he was obliged to refer to this instrument, as already known, and everywhere at hand, which was at the same time cheap, and simple in its use. "It is true, however, that if must is examined by this instrument, the quant.i.ty of acids contained in it, is really somewhat larger than indicated by the instrument; because the acids contained in the must require for their saturation a weaker solution of ammonia than acetic acid." As however, OTTO'S acidimeter shows about one eighth of the acids less than the must actually contains, and about as much acids combined with earths is removed during fermentation, DR. GALL recommends that the quant.i.ty of acids be reduced to 6-1/2, or at most 7 thousandths of OTTO'S acidimeter, and the results have shown that this was about the right proportion; as the wines in which the acids were thus diluted were in favor with all consumers.

"The acidimeter referred to was afterwards improved, by making the tube longer and more narrow, and dividing it into tenths of per cents, instead of fourths; thus dividing the whole above 0 into thousandths.

But although by this improved acidimeter the quant.i.ty of acids could be ascertained with more nicety, there remained one defect, that in often turning the gla.s.s tube for mixing the fluids, some of the contents adhered to the thumb in closing its mouth. This defect was remedied in a new acidimeter, invented by Mr. GEISLER, who also invented the new vaporimeter for the determination of the quant.i.ty of alcohol contained in wine. It is based on the same principle as OTTO'S, but differs altogether in its construction. It is composed of three parts, all made of gla.s.s; the mixing bottle, Fig. 34; the Pipette, Fig. 35; and the burette, Fig 36. Besides, there should be ready three small gla.s.ses--one filled with tincture of litmus, the second with a solution of 1,369 per ammonia, and the third with the must or wine to be tested; also, a taller gla.s.s, or vessel, having its bottom covered with cotton, in which gla.s.s the burette, after it has been filled with the solution of ammonia, is to be placed in an upright position until wanted.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 34.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 35.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 36.]

"To use this instrument the must and the tincture of litmus, having first received the normal temperature of 14 Reaumer, are brought into the mixing bottle by means of the pipette, which is a hollow tube of gla.s.s, open on both ends. To fill it, place its lower end into the tincture or must, apply the mouth to the upper end, and by means of suction fill it with the tincture of litmus to above the line indicated at A. The opening of the top is then quickly closed with the thumb; by alternately raising the thumb, and pressing it down again, so much of the tincture is then allowed to flow back into the gla.s.s so as to lower the fluid to the line indicated at A. The remainder is then brought into the bottle, and the last drops forced out by blowing into the pipette.

"In filling it with must, raise the fluid in the same way, until it comes up to the line indicated at B, and then empty into the mixing bottle.