Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1860-06-02
i fatmtrs' department.
The Making of Wines-The Must.

ripened and ready to use, although still on
the vines. Select a clear day and gather the
vintage as soon as the dew is of the grapes.
Every bunch should be clipped from the vines
with q pair Of scissors, and carefully laid n q
basket or other vessel, to avoid bruisiDg
as much as possible. Gather none but the
fully ripe grapes, and as many of them as can
be pressed in day 20 insure uniform quality
very important consideration. Besides, the
larger, the quantity fermented at once, the
better the wine will be. The grapes being
brought to the wine house should now be
carefully overlooked, and all imperfect aud
decsyed ones removed. The next considera.
tion is whether the grapes shall be pressed
with or without their stems. Many recon-
mend the latter, as there is an astringent
property in the stems that gives a peculiar
flavor to the wine but no doubt the better
way is to strip the berries from the stalks
This is sometimes done by hand. picking. but
O very simple instrument will greatly expedite
the process. Take box or trough, and lay
within it, few inches from the bottom and
from the top, a latice.work of wooden Stats
(which had better be Joined without nails)
upon this lay the punches. Lay similar but
smaller lattice, with q handle to work it, upon
the mass and by rubbing the grapes between
the two, the berries will readily seperate from
the combs and fall through into the trough
beneath. BY the aid Of an assistant. drawing
the grapes as they fall through an opening
at the end of the trough, great deal can be
done in q short time. The next step is to
mash the grapes. The oldest and best meth
cd is to stamp them with the naked feet. 10
some wine countries the stampers wear
SabOts or wooden shoes; sometimes wooden
Founders or beetles are used and sometimes
the grape are passed between rollers, grooved
or futed diagoDally, so as not to break the
grape stones. (There is bitter principle in
the stones or pips very much to be avoided
We now come to the pressing. The ordi-
J nary wine press is platform Of solid wood,
raised high enough from the ground to allow
the must to run through a spout on one side
into proper vessels. Two upright beams Of
! heavy timber, and q cross beam OF the top,
| support powerful screw, that is worked by
hand leayers, like a windlass. The grapes
are placed upon the platform and heavy tim
bers laid upon them then above these other
| tiers OF timbers are crossed, and upon all
the great screw comes down, just as the
President of the Unitod States comes down
! upon the postm lsters auG collectors.
| Besides the above there are smaller presses
used some of which are for sale at the agri-
| cultural warehouses. For small quantities OF
grapes a home made press will answer. Take
an ordinary barrel, bore holes in the bottom
and lower half with half inch auger, place
| O LAYER Of clean straw on the bottom and
against the sides, within which lay the mash
ed grapes and upon them, a layer of straw
| and the barrel head. Upon the whole place
a short upright Of stout timber. Stand this
barrel in a tub, about foot from the wall
nail O cleat to the wall. uIder which place
the end of leaver that r,sts upon the up
right by hanging heavy weights upon the
long end of the lever, you have a tolerably
powerful wine press.
few hints about pressing Some exqui
site wines are made by piling a mass ot
trodden grapes in great upright vessel. and
using only the must that runs off without the
aid of the screw. The rest o! the must goes
to press. and produces on ordinary vine
When the wine press is used alone, three
qualities can be produced first, by reseryine
the must that flows from the gentlest pres
sure secondly, by keeping apart the must o
a severer pressure, and thirdly, by extracting
the last drop Of justice with all power of th,
screw, aided by long rope attached to th,
lever, and worked by a windlass. We ma,
ais, add, that q sort of bastard wine can b,
made, by adding water 10 the skins left afte
the third pressure, partially fsrmenting tn
mass, and subjecting it to a fourth pressure
The product, however, is not wine, hut oul
a. first cousin OF wine, Of poor quality, an,
Brown as piqustte.
10 this country thss' nice distinctions ar
not always observed. The entire produc
OF vineyard often goes to form one win
2 only, and in this view we shall continue
] hintng, that as the select wines of the worl
bring enormous prices, and the common wine
the opposite, that il is worth the while Q