The world., 1899-01-04
TRICKS IN THE WINE TRADE.
Apple Juice and Microbes Placed in
Juxtaposition Make Sherry.

Apple Juice and Microbes rlaceo IN
Juxtaposition Make Sherry.
Writing from Washington, d. e., a
newspaper correspondent gives the fol-
lowing. "Thanks to one OF the latest
discoveries of science, we are now able
to make excellent wines OF various
kinds without resorting to the grape"
said an expert of the department OF ag-
riculture recently. TAKE a SIP Oh
this, and tell me what you think of II"
Its sherry, and good stun, too,
murmured your correspondent.
Apple juice; nothing but apple
juice" replied the professor. Now
try this"
Madeira"
Apple juice again. NOW this.
'Sauterne, of course.
Apple juice once more, said the
professor. These wines, all OF them
capital, as you will have noticed, are
simply apple juice, fermented with
yeasts of different kinds: but the
yeasts are wine yeasts, fetched from
famous grape-growing districts in Eu-
rope. You see, the flavor and aroma Oh
sherry, for example, are not due to the
grape Juice from which the wine is
made, but to the microscopic fungus
germs that cause it's fermentation. We
import these germs from the Xeres dis
trict of Spain, introduce them into
good fresh apple juice, and the result
is indistinguishable from an excellent
quality of sherry. 1t is the same way
with hook, Madeira or champagne; we
simply inoculate the apple juice with
the requisite fungi, and they do the
rest
I'm the soil of the district Of Xeres
certain species of minute fungi exist,
which, floating about in the air or ad-
herring to the skins of ripened grapes,
get into the vats of freshly expressed
grape-juice and multiply in the latter
in incalculable numbers, feeding upon
it and incidentally giving it the pecu-
liar sherry flavor. We merely substi-
tute apple juice, which serves equally
we'll as a basis, add to it small guam
tity of the same species of germs, pro-
cured directly from the Spanish vine
yards, and 10, we have sherry wine,
possessing the true flavor and aroma.
There are concerns now in France and
other parts of Europe that make busi-
ness of propagating the yeasts OF Vari-
Gus kinds of wines and putting them
up in hermetically sealed bottles for
such uses.
"The yeasts are obtained from the
sediments of the vats, and to propa-
gate them is exceedingly easy, the only
difficulty being to separate and isolate
those which produce the right kind of
flavor and aroma. You see, there is an
immense number of varieties of such
vegetable organisms, and the quality
of the wine depends mainly upon the
kind of fungi which makes the fer
mentation Hitherto such matters
have been left to chance, and hence the
great difference in the quality of vim
tages, a given vineyard yielding in
some years a product of a much finer
quality than in others. The grapes
are the same, the processes used are
Identical, out Jne microscopic IunSl
that gets into the raw grape juice vary
in kind.
For soc time brewers have fully
understood this idea as it applies to
beer, and in their establishments moth
ing is considered quite so important as
the preservation and propagation of
particular species of germs for accom-
plishing the work of fermentation
Only recently have wine makers ap-
piled the principle in their business,
but the results already obtained are
wonderful. They may keep on hand
their own yeasts, or they can buy them
ready bottled and guaranteed as to
quality, putting into each vat of fresh
grape juice the requisite quantity of
the germ culture There can be no
doubt that the introduction of this
method in California vineyards will
revolutionize the wine producing In
dustry of that state.