The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1892-12-03
THE VINTAGE Of THE MEpoc.
How the Grapes Arc Grown, and the
Malslng OF the Wine.

lHUO bnS MAUI MeuUC hnu bne Bad
Medoc, and again subdivided into lo-
calities such as Pauillac, Margaux, ST.
Julien and st. Estephe. These names
are applied to the growthR of the re-
spective localities-and to a good deal
besides
The Medoc is long tongue Of land
which stretches north from Bordeaux
between the sea and the rivers Garonne
and Gironde. 1t is not what can be
called fertile soil, being of light,
pebbly character, and it is noticeable
that the best winei is produced where the
earth appears the most sterile, and, in
fact, little better than stone heaps
The vine hourishes best where the
soil is too thin even to encourage weeds
and where the bushes are stunted. The
reason is that in such places the earth
retains the sun heat long after sun.
down, so that the work of fructifica-
tion proceeds almost as steadily by
night as by day. The surface of the
Medoc is composed of sand and pebbles
and supposed to have been washed
down by the mountain torrents from
the Pyrenees and deposited ages ago on
the sea margin.
When the casks filled with the rich,
ripe fruit reach the cellars-long stone
buildings without floors-they are emp.
tied onto horizontal latticeworl table.
On this the grapes are rubbed by a
skilled workman in such q manner that
the fruit drops through into trough
beneath, while the stalks remain to be
thrown away. Treatment differs but,
following the most general process the
grapes which fall through the lattice.
work are received in Il trough which is
on slightly inclined plane, with a
groove to permit the juice to run freely
off into a receiver Upon the bottom OF
this trough the fruit is spread evenly,
and then three or four men with bare
legs and feet begin to tread down the
grapes, dancing to the sound of q fiddle
as long as the grapes continue to be
thrown in.
This is wine treading, and although
machines have often been introduced to
supersede it, and are, in fact, used in
some vineyards, the belief remains that
virtue exists in the human feet which
no mere mechanical pressure can pro-
vide. This may seem odd, but it is
readily explainable. The weight of the
human body in rhythmic dance is quite
sufficient to crush the grapes, while
the human foot is sufficiently flexible
not to crush the seeds, which contain
an oil injurious to the wine
1t is held by some growers that crush,
ing produces more rapid and equable
fermentation of the juice, although a
lighter colored wine. Others maintain
that it produces too much sediment, and
that it is better to throw the unbroken
grapes into the vat and to allow therl
to exude their juice in natural proce 50
of fermentation. The process takes
about fortnight, by which time the
skins and seeds will have settled at the
bottom of the vat When the grapes
are trodden it is only the juice which
runs into the vat; but after the men are
done dancing upon them the skins and
pulp are put into mechanical press,
where the remaining juice is squeezed
out of them and made into inferior
wines.
Whether it be the whole grape or the
trodden juice which is put into the vats
huge oaSen vessels standing in a row
in the sheds-these are Theoretically
sealed, with, perhaps, siphsn to carry
off the carbonic acid gas that may be
generated. Two weeks is the usual
time allowed to the vats, but the period
varies and may extend to four weeks
We will pass over the chemical pro-
cess of fermentation and come to the
next industrial process in wine making
This is the barreling and bottlng.
SThe barrels must be of the best oak.
and the best make, for a bad barrel will
spoil the best wine that was ever made.
They have to be very carefully cleaned
out first with boiling water and then
with brandy, after which they are
fumigated by means of bit of lighted
sulphur at the end of rod run through
the bunghole When thoroughly puri-
fled they are put in a row upon the
thick beams to protect them from the
damp floor. After being filled with the
new wine they have to be constantly
watched by the cellarman, who gauges
regularly the evaporation and replaces
the exact quantity evaporated This re-
filling is very frequent at first, but
after few months once fortnight
sutfices The bungs also have to be
carefully watched and the linen round
them constantly changed, since any
acid which the cloth absorbs may be
impaired to the wine.
BY the month of March the first
tracking" or drawing off of the new
wine is done. That is to say, the wine
is led off by siphon from the first cask
to new one, which has been as care
fully cleaned and purified as the first.
The siphon is used so that the wine
may mot come into contact with the air.
The process is repeated in June and
again in October and each drawing off
should be clearer than its predecessor.
When the clarifying is not proceeding
as itshould from any sense some makers
throw the whites OF half dozen eggs
into the cask, others used gelatine or
someclarifier, but nothing which can in
any way injure the quality or color of
the wine.
Sometimes, if the fermentation in the
vats has been imperfect, second fer
mentation will take place in the casks,
the symptom of which will be the blow
ing out of the bung by the generation
of carbonic acid gas. When this hap
pens the wine is promptly drawn off
and passed through pipes immersed in
boiling water to another barrel This
Hanger is incidental only to the first
year. Second fermentation rarely oc-
ours in the second year, but in the
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