The Cultivation of The Native Grape, and Manufacture of American WinesHusmann, George
Science
The Cultivation of The Native Grape, and Manufacture of American Wines
Husmann, George
Viticulture -- United States; Wine and wine making -- United States
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 space
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 quantity, 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 noble wines to class with them
the Oporto, which may make a very dark colored liquid, but no _wine_
worth the name, unless an immense quantity 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.
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