Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-11-29

The crop 10 Ilpen, anu uuIltig tuio siAc,
while the grapes are approaching matu-
rity, not even the owner can enter his
own property without permission of the
authorities, and even then he must be ac-
companied by an officer. This rule works
hardly in some cases, for the grapes are
allowed to attain dead ripeness before
the vintage begins, and different kinds OF
wine require different stages of maturity
in the grape.
In every wine-producing country the
vintage is busy season, and the work
goes on every day, including Sunday, I'M
til completed. From the towns and vii
lagos come swarms of grape pickers, who
consider it pleasure to leave the fac
tories and workshops for few days or
weeks in the open air. The occupation is
healthy, and as the pickers are allowed to
eat all they please the occupation is
eagerly ght for. The healthfulness
both of the food and of the employment is
attested from the fact that they usually
gain from five to twenty pounds In weight
during the grape harvest. But they are
not idle; their time is paid for, and even
though the wages are small, the vigorous
competition in Europe secures the en-
ployment of every moment. To save the
labor of the pickers, the grapes are placed
in baskets; wagons pass to and fro In the
vineyard and the baskets are taken by
wagon loads to the wine press. Every
vineyard, according to size, has one or
more wine presses, cemented watts In the
floor, from which pipes lead either to other
receptacles or to barrels placed for the re-
ception of the juice. Sometimes the grapes
are pressed by machinery, but more fire.
quently are trodden now as they were
twenty centuries ago, by the feet of the
peasants. Wine-treading is distinct
operation. requiring, it is said, care and
experience in the treader. Having, if
company be present, made pretense of
washing his feet, he enters the vat, begins
at the outside, and treads round the vat,
gradually approaching the center. The
mingled mass of grapes and juice reaches
| to his knees, but still the treading goes on.
The first Juice that escapes is separated for
the finer kinds of wine. That which after
ward runs off is preserved for the inferior
brands, while that which escapes after the
pulp has been subjected to the action OF
the press forms the commoner varieties.
The juice is put in fermenting vessels
and subsequently treated according to the
private methods of the manufacturer. Each
winemaker has his own method, and most
of them make point of keeping private
their plan of dealing with the juice.
Nearly all, however, changeit from one bar
| rel to another during the course of fer
mentation, FIVE or six times year, until
the finished product is ready for sale.
The bottling is a delicate matter, espe-
cially with champagne. This wine is
placed in bottles before the fermentation is
| finished. and if bottled too early the large
| quantity of gas will break the stoutest
| glass. All bottlers count on certain per-
centage of bottles being broken and lost,
and the best champagne is that in which
the largest amount of breakage occurs
Ten per cent. of loss from this source is a
common estimate, bnt sometimes it reaches
% per cent and even more, and an in
creased price is charged on the bottles
which remain to cover the loss.
| The various operations connected with
the manufacture of wine are all performed
by different persons, each one skilled in
| his own line. One does the disgorging, or
| clearing the sediment from the bottles, the
labors of another are confined to the cork
ing, still another does the stringing
while others put on the wire, cover the
neck with tinfoil, wrap the bottles in'paper
and pack them in straw for shipment.
Every one is trained to certain line OF
work, is expected to do that, and do it well
| and perform no other operation.
The destruction wrought among the
| vines of France during recent years by
the deadly phylloxera has caused the fear
that the vineyards Of Champagne and the
Gironde would be utterly ruined. In fact,
many have been, and large tracts of prom
Using wine country have been practically
laid waste by the ravages of this insect.
During the last few years, however, the
discovery has been made that American
vines are much harder than those of
Europe, and by introducing the American
root and on it grating their own vines
good results have been attained. The
roots of all the American varieties are, it
is said, able to resist the inroads Of the in
sects. If the process be as effectual as has
been represented, the vine growers of
France will be saved from the ruin they
anticipate; but if not. American drinkers
will still have their champagne, for such
are the resources of chemistry that the
manufacturers can easily produce wine SO
nearly resembling the genuine article that
it is said the most skillful faster can not
detect the difference. In fact, this sort of
wine is the kind which most commonly
passes in this country for champagne.
Wine manufacturers take the cheap wines
from Ohio and California, doctor them
with carbonic acid gas and sell them as
champagne, just as the heavy wines from
Portugal, charged with alcohol, pass in
England for genuine port. While the re-
sources of chemistry are so ample, no fall
ing off need be anticipated in the supply
of wines from France, and even if the
vineyards give out, the imported brands of
French champagne will still be abundantly
supplied to the credulous American wine
bibber.