Wines
The term wine is properly applied only to the fermented juice of the grape, but is popularly used in a more extended sense. What are termed domestic wines made from the currant, gooseberry, etc., are often supposed to be more wholesome and less intoxicating than the wine of the grape.
This is an error; they are more acid than true wine, and have added to them sugar and spirits, neither of which are necessary with good grape juice. The culture of the grape and manufacture of wine have increased very rapidly in the United States of late years, and the time is not very distant when we shall be independent of foreign sources of supply.
The Vine.
The varieties of grape employed in wine-making, in the United States, are the Catawba, Delaware, Schuylkill (Cape), Isabella, and Scuppernong. In California, now so noted for its wine product, the vines are of Spanish origin. Of those named, the two first varieties are most prized. Vines require a dry, airy situation, preferably with a southern or eastern exposure. Picking the Fruit.
The fruit should be allowed to stay on the vines until fully ripe. If any error is committed it should be that of allowing it to remain too long.
A slight frost will not injure the grape for winemaking, but rather improve it. Remove all unripe and bad berries. In some cases the berries are detached from the stem, in others not; the latter method is most usual. All vessels and utensils used in wine-making, must be most scrupulously clean when used, and should be thoroughly cleansed after using. Without attention to this good wine cannot be made. Grapes should not be gathered in damp weather nor when the dew is on them.
Extracting the Juice.
The grapes are first crushed, the object being to break the skin and pulp, but not the seeds.
This may be done in any of the ordinary cidermills sold at the agricultural warehouses, or on the small scale by bruising in a mashing-tub.
The juice is then expressed as directed in making cider. For extracting juice of fruits on the small scale the ordinary clothes-wringer will be found very useful. The expressed juice is termed must, the remaining seeds, husks, etc., after being pressed, are put on the manure pile or used for making inferior brandy.
Fermenting the Must.
In this country the fermentation is performed in barrels; abroad vats are used. The barrels should, if new, be filled with pure water, and left to soak for 10 or 15 days; then well scalded out, and fumigated by means of a match made by dipping paper or rag into melted sulphur. When not in use they must be kept bunged, and each year they must be thoroughly cleansed or fumigated before using.
The barrels are to be filled within 5 or 6 inches of the top. The beginning of the fermentation is shown by a slight rise in temperature, this soon increases, the liquid froths, and carbonic acid gas escapes; in 2 or 3 weeks this ceases, the lees settle and the wine becomes clear. Fermentation out of contact of air is accomplished by having a bung fitted with a tube which dips under the surface of a pan of water, The gas escapes through the water, but the air cannot enter the cask. This is considered a great improvement by many. The bung should not be inserted until fermentation has begun. As soon as fermentation has ceased, fill up the cask and bung tightly. If you have not the same wine with which to fill the cask, put in enough well-washed flinty pebbles.
Racking.
The object of racking is to draw the wine from its lees, which contain various impurities, and the yeast is the fermentation. Some rack more than once, others but once. Rehfuss recommends to draw off the wine into fresh casks in December, and again in March or April, and again in the fall; after that only in the fall. Buchanan recommends one racking in March or April. It is objected to frequent racking that it injures the aroma of the wine, and renders it liable to become acid. The wine may be drawn off with the syphon or by the spigot; care being taken not to disturb the lees. Spring Fermentation.
About the time that the vines begin to shoot the wine undergoes a second but moderate fermentation, after which it fines itself, and if kept well bunged will continue to improve by age. During the spring fermentation the bungs may be slightly loosened; otherwise the casks, if not strong, may burst, and the wine be lost. It is better kept in bottles. Wine may be bottled in a year after it is made, two years will be better. The bottles should be sealed and laid on their sides in a cool place.
Sparkling Wines.
The above directions will give a still wine of fine quality; no sugar, spirits or other addition is required. To make a sparkling wine is a matter of nicety, and requires considerable experience; and cellars, vaults and buildings especially adapted to the process. Abroad the wine is bottled during the first fermentation; although air is necessary to the beginning of fermentation, yet it will go on when once begun if air be excluded. The must continuing to ferment in the bottles, the gas generated is absorbed by the liquid under its own pressure. A very large percentage of bottles bursts. Mr. Longworth's Process.
In the spring following the pressing of the grapes the wine is mixed with a small quantity of sugar, and put into strong bottles, the corks of which are well fastened with wire and twine. The spring fermentation is accelerated by the sugar, and the carbonic acid generated produces pressure enough to burst a considerable percentage of the bottles.
At the end of a year the liquid has become clear.
To get rid of the sediment the bottles are put in a rack with the necks inclining downward, and frequently shaken, the sediment deposits near and on the cork, and is blown out when the wires are cut. More sugar is added for sweetness; the bottles recorked, and in a few weeks the wine is ready for use.
Acidity of Wines.
The acidity of wine made from ripe grapes is due to cream of tartar or bitartrate of potassa.
The grapes always contain a larger proportion than the wine, as much of it is deposited during fermentation, forming Argols of commerce. Tannic acid always present, giving, when in quantity, astringency or roughness. Citric acid is found in wine made from unripe grapes; malic and oxalic acids in those made from currants, rhubarb, etc.
The cream of tartar gradually deposits as wine grows older, forming the crust or bees-wing.
Hence wine of grape improves with age. Domestic wines do not deposit their acids, which have therefore to be disguised by the addition of sugar. Acetic acid is formed by the oxidation of the alcohol of wine. When considerable in quantity the wine is said to be "pricked." Moselle and Rhine wine are among the most acid, and Sherry and Port among the least so.
Sweet Wines, Such as Malaga, are made by allowing the grapes to remain on the vine until partially dried.
The must is also evaporated about one-third before fermentation. Wines, such as still Catawba, Claret, etc., which contain little or no sugar, are called dry.
Proportion of Alcohol in Wines.
The following gives the average proportion of absolute alcohol in 100 parts by measure: Port, Madeira, Sherry, 20; Claret, Catawba, Hock, and Champagne, 11; Domestic wines, 10 to 20; alcohol gives the strength or body to wine. It is often added to poor wines to make them keep, and to increase their intoxicating qualities.
Bottling and Corking.
Fine clear weather is best for bottling all sorts of wines, and much cleanliness is required. The first consideration, in bottling wines, is to examine and see if the wines are in a proper state. The wines should be fine and brilliant, or they will never brighten after.
The bottles must be all sound, clean and dry, with plenty of good sound corks.
The cork is to be put in with the hand, and then driven well in with a flat wooden mallet, the weight of which ought to be 14 lbs., but, however, not to exceed 1½ lbs., for if the mallet be too light or too heavy it will not drive the cork in properly, and may break the bottle. The corks must so completely fill up the neck of each bottle as to render them air-tight, but leave a space of an inch between the wine and the neck.
When all the wine is bottled, it is to be stored in a cool cellar, and on no account on the bottles' bottoms, but on their sides and in saw-dust.
Mr. Carnell's Receipt for Red Gooseberry Wine.
Take cold soft water, 10 galls.; red gooseberries, 11 galls., and ferment. Now mix raw sugar, 16 lbs.; beet-root, sliced, 2 lbs.; and red tartar, in fine powder, 1 oz. Afterwards put in sassafras chips, 1 lb., and brandy, 1 gall., or less. This will make 18 galls.
Another. When the weather is dry, gather gooseberries about the time they are half ripe; pick them clean, put the quantity of a peck into convenient vessel, and bruise them with a piece of wood, taking as much care as possible to keep the seeds whole. Now having put the pulp into a canvas bag, press out all the juice; and to every gallon of the gooseberries add about 3 lbs. of fine loaf sugar; mix the whole together by stirring it with a stick, and as soon as the sugar is quite dissolved, pour it into a convenient cask, which will hold it exactly. If the quantity be about 8 or 9 galls., let it stand a fortnight; if 20 galls., 40 days, and so on in proportion taking care the place you set it in be cool. After standing the proper time, draw it off from the lees, and put it into another clean vessel of equal size, or into the same, after pouring the lees out, and making it clean: let a cask of 10 or 12 galls. stand for about 3 months, and 20 galls. for 5 months, after which it will be fit for bottling off.
Red and White Gooseberry Wine.
Take cold soft water, 3 galls.; red gooseberries, 14 galls.; white gooseberries, 2 galls. Ferment.
Now mix raw sugar, 5 lbs.; honey, 1½ lbs.; tartar, in fine powder, 1 oz. Afterwards put in bitter almonds, 2 oz.; sweetbriar, 1 small handful; ani brandy, 1 gall., or less. This will make 6 galls.
White Gooseberry or Champagne Wine.
Take cold soft water, 4+ galls.; white gooseberries, 5 galls. Ferment. Now mix refined sugar, 6 lbs.; honey, 4 lbs.; white tartar, in fine powder, 1 oz. Put in orange and lemon-peel, 1 oz. dry, or 2 oz. fresh; and add white brandy, gall. This will make 9 galls.
Gooseberry Wine of the Best Quality, resembling Champagne.
To each pint of full ripe gooseberries, mashed, add one pint of water, milk warm, in which has been dissolved one pound of single-refined sugar; stir the whole well, and cover up the tub with a blanket, to preserve the heat generated by the fermentation of the ingredients; let them remain in this vessel 3 days, stirring them twice or thrice a day; strain off the liquor through a sieve, afterwards through a coarse linen cloth; put it into the cask; it will ferment without yeast. Let the cask be kept full with some of the liquor reserved for the purpose. It will ferment for 10 days, sometimes for 3 weeks; when ceased, and only a hissing noise remains, draw off 2 or 3 bottles, according to the strength you wish it to have, from every 20 pint cask, and fill up the cask with brandy or whiskey; but brandy is preferable. To make it very good, and that it may keep well, add as much Sherry, together with oz. of isinglass dissolved in water to make it quite liquid; stir the whole well. Bung the cask up, and surround the bung with clay; the closer it is bunged the better; a fortnight after, if it be clear at top, taste it; if not sweet enough, add more sugar; 22 lbs. is the just quantity in all for 20 pints of wine; leave the wine 6 months in the cask; but after being quite fine, the sooner it is bottled the more it wil. sparkle and resemble Champagne. The process should be carried on in a place where the heat is between 48° and 56° Fahr. Currant wine may be made in the same manner.
Gooseberry and Currant Wines.
The following method of making superior gooseberry and currant wines is recommended in a French work: For currant wine, 8 lbs. of honey are dissolved in 15 galls. of boiling water, to which, when clarified, is added the juice of 8 lbs. of red or white currants. It is then fermented for 24 hours, and 2 lbs. of sugar to every 2 galls. of water are added. The preparation is afterwards clarified with the whites of eggs and cream of tartar. For gooseberry wine, the fruit is gathered dry when about half ripe, and then pounded in a mortar. The juice, when properly strained through a canvas bag, is mixed with sugar, in the proportion of 3 lbs. to every 2 galls. of juice. It is then left in a quiet state for 15 days, at the expiration of which it is carefully poured off, and left to ferment for 3 months when the quantity is under 15 galls., and for 5 months when double that quantity. It is then bottled, and soon becomes fit for drinking.
Another. Take cold soft water, 5½ galls.; gooseberries and currants, 4 galls. Ferment. Then add, raw sugar, 12 lbs.; tartar, in fine powder, 1 oz.; ginger, in powder, 3 oz.; sweet marjoram, a handful; whiskey, 1 qt. This will make 9 galls.
Red Currant Wine.
Take cold soft water, 11 galls.; red currants, 8 galls.; raspberries, 1 qt. Ferment. Mix, raw sugar, 20 lbs.; beet-root, sliced, 2 lbs.; and red tartar, in fine powder, 3 oz. Put in 1 nutmeg, in fine powder; add brandy, 1 gall. This will make 18 galls.
Another. Put 5 qts. of currants and 1 pint of raspberries to every 2 galls. of water; let them soak a night; then squeeze and break them well.
Next day rub them well through a fine sieve till the juice is expressed, washing the skins with some of the water; then, to every gallon, put 4 lbs. of the best sugar, put it into your barrel, and set the bung lightly in. In 2 or 3 days add a bottle of good Cogniac brandy to every 4 galls.; bung it close, but leave out the spigot for a few days. It is very good in 3 years, better in 4.
Another. Boil 4 galls. of spring water, and stir into it 8 lbs. of honey; when thoroughly dissolved, take it off the fire; then stir it well in order to raise the scum, which take clean off, and cool the liquor.
When thus prepared, press out the same quantity of the juice of red currants moderately ripe, which being well strained, mix well with the water and honey, then put them into a cask or a large earthen vessel, and let them stand to ferment for 24 hours; then to every gallon add 2 lbs. of fine sugar, stir them well to raise the scum, and when well settled take it off, and add an oz. of cream of tartar, with the whites of 2 or 3 eggs, to refine it. When the wine is well settled and clear draw it off into a small vessel, or bottle it up, keeping it in a cool place.
Of white currants a wine after the same manner may be made, that will equal in strength and pleasantness many sorts of white wine; but as for the black or Dutch currants, they are seldom used, except for the preparation of medicinal wines.
Another. Gather the currants in dry weather, put them into a pan and bruise them with a wooden pestle; let them stand about 20 hours, after which strain through a sieve; add 3 lbs. of fine powdered sugar to each 4 quarts of the liquor, and after shaking it well fill the vessel, and put a quart of good brandy to every 7 gallons. In 4 weeks, if it does not prove quite clear, draw it off into another vessel, and let it stand previous to bottling it off about 10 days.
Red and White Currant Wine.
Take of cold soft water, 12 galls.; white currants, 4 galls.; red currants, 3 galls. Ferment. Mix, raw sugar, 25 lbs.; white tartar, in fine powder, 3 oz. Put in sweet-briar leaves, 1 handful; lavender leaves, 1 handful; then add spirits, 2 qts. or more. This will make 18 galls.
Dutch Currant Wine.
Take of cold soft water, 9 galls.; red currants, 10 galls. Ferment. Mix, raw sugar, 10 lbs.; beet-root, sliced, 2 lbs.; red tartar, in fine powder, 2 oz. Put in bitter almonds, 1 oz.; ginger, in powder, 2 oz.; then add brandy, 1 qt. This will make 18 galls.
Dutch Red Currant Wine.
Take of cold soft water, 11 galls.; red currants, 8 galls. Ferment. Mix, raw sugar, 12 lbs.; red tartar, in fine powder, 2 oz. Put in coriander seed, bruised, 2 oz.; then add whiskey, 2 qts.
This will make 18 galls.
Mixed Berries from a Small Garden.
Take of cold soft water, 11 galls.; fruit, 8 galls.
Ferment. Mix, treacle, 14 or 16 lbs.; tartar, in powder, 1 oz. Put in ginger, in powder, 4 oz.; sweet herbs, 2 handfuls; then add spirits, 1 or 2 qts. This will make 18 galls.
To make Compound Wine.
An excellent family wine may be made of equal parts of red, white and black currants, ripe cherries, and raspberries, well bruised, and mixed with soft water, in the proportion of 4 lbs. of fruit to 1 gall. of water. When strained and pressed, 3 lbs. of moist sugar are to be added to each gall. of liquid. After standing open for 3 days, during which it is to be stirred frequently, it is to be put into a barrel, and left for a fortnight to work, when a ninth part of brandy is to be added, and the whole bunged down. In a few months it will be a most excellent wine.
Other Mixed Fruits of the Berry kind.
Take of cold soft water, 2 galls.; fruit, 18 galls.
Ferment. Honey, 6 lbs.; tartar, in fine powder, 2 oz. Put in peach leaves, 6 handfuls; then add brandy, 1 gall. This will make 18 galls.
White Currant Wine.
Take of cold soft water, 9 galls.; white currants, 9 galls.; white gooseberries, 1 gall. Ferment.
Mix, refined sugar, 25 lbs.; white tartar, in powder, 1 oz.; clary seed, bruised, 2 oz.; or clary flowers or sorrel flowers, 4 handfuls; then add white brandy, 1 gall. This will make 18 galls.
Another. Take of cold soft water, 10 galls.; white currants, 10 galls. Ferment. Mix, refined sugar, 25 lbs.; white tartar, in fine powder, 1 oz.; then add bitter almonds, 2 oz.; and white brandy, 1 gall. This will make 18 galls.
Black Currant Wine.
Take of cold soft water, 10 galls.; black currants, 6 galls.; strawberries, 3 galls. Ferment. Mix, raw sugar, 25 lbs.; red tartar, in fine powder, 6 oz.; orange-thyme, 2 handfuls; then add brandy, 2 or 3 qts. This will make 18 galls.
Another. Take of cold soft water, 12 galls.; black currants, 5 galls.; white or red currants, or both, 3 galls. Ferment. Mix, raw sugar, 30 lbs. or less; red tartar, in fine powder, 5 oz.; ginger, in powder, 5 oz.; then add brandy, 1 gall. or less.
This will make 18 galls.