Part 10 (2/2)
Acids, 9 ”
Water, 841 ”
----- 1,000 ”
What must we do to bring such must to the condition of a normal must?
This is the question thus arising. To solve it, we calculate thus: If, in six pounds of acids in a normal wine, 240 pounds of sugar appear, how much sugar is wanted for nine pounds of acids? Answer, 360 pounds.
Our next question is: If, in six pounds of acids in a normal must, 754 pounds of water appear, how much water is required for nine pounds of acids? Answer, 1,131 pounds. As, therefore, the must which we intend to improve by neutralizing its acids, should contain 360 pounds of sugar, nine pounds of acids, and 1,131 pounds of water, but contains already 150 pounds of sugar, 9 pounds of acids, and 841 pounds of water, there remain to be added, 210 pounds of sugar, no acids, and 290 pounds of water.
By ameliorating a quant.i.ty of 1,000 pounds must by 210 pounds sugar, and 290 pounds water, we obtain 1,500 pounds of must, consisting of the same properties as the normal must, which makes a first-cla.s.s wine.”
This is wine-making, according to GALL'S method, in Europe. Now, let us see what we can do with it on American soil, and with American grapes.
THE MUST OF AMERICAN GRAPES.
If we examine the must of most of our American wine grapes closely, we find that they not only contain an excess of acids in inferior seasons, but also a superabundance of flavor or aroma, and of tannin and coloring matter. Especially of flavor, there is such an abundance that, were the quant.i.ty doubled by addition of sugar and water, there would still be an abundance; and with some varieties, such as the Concord, if fermented on the husks, it is so strong as to be disagreeable. We must, therefore, not only ameliorate the acid, but also the flavor and the astringency, of which the tannin is the princ.i.p.al cause. Therefore it is, that to us the knowledge of how to properly gallize our wines is still more important than to the European vintner, and the results which we can realize are yet more important. By a proper management, we can change must, which would otherwise make a disagreeable wine, into one in which everything is in its proper proportion, and which will delight the consumer, to whose fastidious taste if would otherwise have been repugnant. True, we have here a more congenial climate, and the grapes will generally ripen better, so that we can in most seasons produce a drinkable wine. But if we can increase the quant.i.ty, and at the same time improve the quality, there is certainly an inducement, which the practical business sense of our people will not fail to appreciate and make use of.
There is, however, one difficulty in the way. I do not believe that the acidimeter can yet be obtained in the country, and we must import them direct from the manufacturers, DR. L. C. MARQUART, of Bonn, on the Rhine; or J. DIEHN, Frankfort-on-the-Main.
However, this difficulty will soon be overcome; and, indeed, although it is impossible to practice gallizing without a saccharometer, we may get at the surplus of acids with tolerable certainty by the results shown by the saccharometer. To ill.u.s.trate this, I will give an example:
Last year was one of the most unfavorable seasons for the ripening of grapes we have ever had here, and especially the Catawba lost almost nine-tenths of its crop by mildew and rot; it also lost its leaves, and the result was, that the grapes did not ripen well. When gathering my grapes, upon weighing the must, I found that it ranged from 52 to 70; whereas, in good seasons, Catawba must weighs from 80 to 95. I now calculated thus: if normal must of Catawba should weigh at least 80, and the must I have to deal with this season will weigh on an average only 60, I must add to this must about 1/2 lb. of sugar to bring it up to 80. But now I had the surplus acid to neutralize yet. To do this, I calculated thus: If, even in a normal Catawba must, or a must of the best seasons, there is yet an excess of acid, I can safely count on there being at least one-third too much acid in a must that weighs but 60. I, therefore, added to every 100 gallons of must 40 gallons of soft water, in which I had first dissolved 80 lbs. of crushed sugar, which brought the water, when weighed after dissolving the sugar in it, up to 80. Now, I had yet to add 50 lbs., or half a pound to each gallon of the original must, to bring _this_ up to 80. I thus pressed, instead of 100 gallons, 150 gallons, from the same quant.i.ty of grapes; and the result was a wine, which every one who has tasted it has declared to be excellent Catawba. It has a brilliant pale yellow color, was perfectly clear 1st of January, and sold by me to the first one to whom I offered it, at a price which I have seldom realized for Catawba wine made in the best seasons, without addition of sugar or water.
True, it has not as strong an aroma as the Catawba of our best seasons, nor has it as much astringency; but this latter I consider an advantage, and it still has abundant aroma to give it character.
Another experiment I made with the Concord satisfied me, without question, that the must of this grape will always gain by an addition of water and sugar. I pressed several casks of the pure juice, which, as the Concord had held its leaves and ripened its fruit very well, contained sugar enough to make a fair wine, namely, 75. This I generally pressed the day after gathering, and put into separate casks.
I then took some must of the same weight, but to which I had added, to every 100 gallons, 50 gallons of water, in which I had diluted sugar until the water weighed 75, or not quite two pounds of sugar to the gallon of water, pressed also after the expiration of the same time, and otherwise treated in the same manner. Both were treated exactly alike, racked at the same time; and the result is, that every one who tries the two wines, without knowing how they have been treated, prefers the gallized wine to the other--the pure juice of the grape. It is more delicate in flavor, has less acidity, and a more brilliant color than the first, the ungallized must. They are both excellent, but there is a difference in favor of the gallized wine.
DR. GALL recommends grape sugar as the best to be used for the purpose.
This is made from potato starch; but it is hard to obtain here, and I have found crushed loaf sugar answer every purpose. I think this sugar has the advantage over grape sugar, that it dissolves more readily, and can even be dissolved in cold water, thus simplifying the process very much. It will take about two pounds to the gallon of water to bring this up to 80, which will make a wine of sufficient body. The average price of sugar was about 22 cents per pound, and the cost of thus producing an additional gallon of wine, counting in labor, interest on capital, etc., will be about 60 cents. When the wine can be sold at from $2 to $3 per gallon, the reader will easily perceive of what immense advantage this method is to the grape-grower, if he can thereby not only improve the quality, but also increase the quant.i.ty of the yield.
The efforts made by the Commissioner of Patents, and the contributors to the annual reports from the Patent Office, to diffuse a general knowledge of this process, can therefore not be commended too highly.
It will help much to bring into general use, among all cla.s.ses, good, pure, native wines; and as soon as ever the poorer cla.s.ses can obtain cheap agreeable wines, the use of bad whiskey and brandy will be abandoned more and more, and this nation will become a more temperate people.
But this is only the first step. There is a way to still further increase the quant.i.ty. DR. GALL and others found, by a.n.a.lyzing the husks of the grape after the juice had been extracted by powerful presses, that they not only still contained a considerable amount of juice, but also a great amount of extracts, or wine-making principles, in many instances sufficient for three times the bulk of the juice already expressed. This fact suggested the question: As there are so many of these valuable properties left, and only sugar and water exhausted, why cannot these be subst.i.tuted until the others are completely exhausted? It was found that the husks still contained sufficient of acids, tannin, aroma, coloring matter, and gluten. All that remained to be added was water and sugar. It was found that this could be easily done; and the results showed that wine made in this manner was equal, if not superior, to some of that made from the original juice, and was often, by the best judges, preferred to that made from the original must.
I have also practiced this method extensively the last season; and the result is, that I have fully doubled the amount of wine of the Norton's Virginia and Concord. I have thus made 2,500 gallons of Concord, where I had but 1,030 gallons of original must; and 2,600 gallons of Norton's Virginia, where I had but 1,300 gallons of must. The wines thus made were kept strictly separate from those made from the original juice, and the result is, that many of them are better, and none inferior, to the original must; and although I have kept a careful diary of wine-making, in which I have noted the process how each cask was made, period of fermentation on the husks, quant.i.ty of sugar used, etc., and have not hesitated to show this to every purchaser after he had tasted of the wine, they generally, and with very few exceptions, chose those which had either been gallized in part, or entirely.
[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 37.
UNION VILLAGE.--_Berries 1/3 diameter._]
My method in making such wines was very simple. I generally took the same quant.i.ty of water, the husks had given original must, or in other words, when I had pressed 100 gallons of juice, I took about 80 gallons of water. To make Concord wine, I added 1-3/4 lbs. of sugar to the gallon, as I calculated upon some sugar remaining in the husks, which were not pressed entirely dry. This increased the quant.i.ty, with the juice yet contained in the husks to 100 gallons, and brought the water to 70; calculating that from 5 to 10 still remained in the husks, it would give us a must of about 80. The grapes, as before remarked, had been gathered during the foregoing day, and were generally pressed in the morning. As soon as possible the husks were turned into the fermenting vat again, all pulled apart and broken, and the water added to them. As the fermentation had been very strong before, it immediately commenced again. I generally allowed them to ferment for twenty-four hours, and then pressed again, but pressed as dry as possible this time. The whole treatment of this must was precisely similar to that of the original.
In making Norton's Virginia, I would take, instead of 1-3/4 lbs., 2 lbs. of sugar to the gallon--as it is naturally a wine of greater body than the Concord--and I aimed to come as near to the natural must as possible. I generally fermented this somewhat longer, as a darker color was desired. The time of fermentation must vary, of course, with the state of the atmosphere; in cooler weather, both pressings should remain longer on the husks. The results, in both varieties were wines of excellent flavor, good body, a brilliant color, with enough of tannin or astringency, and sufficient acid--therefore, in every way satisfactory.
The experiments, however, were not confined to these alone, but extended over a number of varieties, with good results in every case.
Of all varieties tried, however, I found that the Concord would bear the most of gallizing, without losing its own peculiar flavor; and I satisfied myself, that the quant.i.ty in this grape can safely be increased _here_, from 100 gallons of must to 250 gallons of wine, and the quality yet be better, than if the must had been left in its normal condition.
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