Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1875-08-02
Making wine from Native grapes.

Making Wine from Native grapes
The following receipt for making do
mestic wine from Catawba or Isabella
grapes, used by G. A. Nioolls, Of Read
ing, Pa, in 1859 to 1869, is commended
to us by a gentleman who has tried it
successfully. Its directions have the
merit, rare in recipes, of being full and
precise;
l.. Select perfectly ripe lunches, and
then carefully pick off the stems aud re-
move all grapes which are not quite
ripe.
q Squeeze the juice out, either by
hand or press, strain through q hair
sieve, and pour it at once into a clean,
sweet barrel or keg, adding to the vessel
two gallons Of water for every gallon Of
juice made.
8. At the same time put in four pounds
of sifted sugar per gallon Of juice.
4. In adding two gallons of water sta
ted in section 2, let it strain through the
pulp, skins, etc of the residuum of the
grapes after being squeezed.
5. Fill the vessel full up to the bung
hole, which cover with a sand-bag to al
low the fermentation to escape.
6. Watch the barrel daily, and clear or
scrape away the scum, which will be
thrown out it large quantities.
Z. As the wine falls below the bung,
fill up daily latter clearing away the
scum with sugar water, made with two
pounds of sugar to the gallon of water.
8. The fermentation will conjunction
three to six weeks, according to the
weather. When it has ceased, / pour
into the bung hole about one gill of
brandy to the gallon of juice, to flow
over the surface aud prevent its souring;
but the brandy may not be indispensable.
Then bung the vessel up tight.
8. During tina cold weather, in say the
following February, when the wine is
perfectly still and clear, draw it off into
any other clean vessels, then quickly
clean, scald and rinse thoroughly the
barrel in which the wine va made, and
return the wine to it, bung it up, and
draw it off as required for use.
10. If you wish to make a very palata-
bic champagne, have the champagne bot
ties ready when you rack off the wine as
stated in section 8; put a tablespoonful
OF common syrup in each quart bottle;
then fill with the wine, leaving about ID
inches clear below the bottom of the
cork, which fasten very securely with
strong twine, as the pressure of the fixed
air to escape is very great.
IL. The wine will improve by age, af-
ter the operation described in section g..
II. An old brandy or whisky barrel is
the best (see section 2) Never use a
new barrel, as the wine will taste of the
wood.
10. About fifteen ponds Of rapes
will give one gallon of Juice. The ripper
the grapes the better the yield of the
juice. One gallon Of grapes in lunches
weighs about four and a half pounds.
IA. Keep the wine in the cellar, where
it will not be exposed to extremes of
temperature.
II. An approximate estimate of the
quantities required for a 3O-gallon barrel
will be as follows:
To Make Thirty Gallons of Vine
$50 lbs. grapes, yielding 10 gallons juice;
20 gallons water, strained through the
pulp residuum, (see section A.; 40 lbs. of
sifted sugar; q pints of common brandy.
See section 8.
If carefully made, the wine will be
wholesome and palatable, with a flavor
like grape juice Madeira. 1t was pre-
ferred to all others at the Washington
hospitals during the wal of l86l-65, and
and was reported to have been the
means Of saving the lives Of some of
the soldiers.