The Washington weekly post., 1899-10-17

1 It's sherry, and good stun, too, muT-
INJURED 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 pro-
| fessor. These wines-all Of them capital,
as you will have nouced-are simply ap-
/ pie juice, Termented with yeasts OF diner-
| ent kinds; but the yeasts are wine yeasts.
| fetched from famous grape-gFoWing dis
| triCts in Europe"
you see, the flavor and aroma OF
| sherry. for example, are not due 10 the
! grape juice from which the wine IL made.
| but 10 the microscopic fungus germs that
| cause its fermentation. We import these
| germs from the Aeres district OF Spain,
\ Introduce them into fresh apple juice, ana
| the result is indistirguishable 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
Effect If the Fungi.
| ''In the soil of the district of Xeres GER
the skins OF the ripened grapes. get into
! tain Species of minute fungi exist, which.
| floating about in the air or adhering TO
| the watts Of freshly-expressed grape Juice
| and multiply in the latter in incalcGiable
numbers feeding upon 1t and incidentally
| giving to it the peculiar sherry flavor.
We merely substitute apple juice, which
| serves equally well as a basis, and 10 II a
small quantity OF the same species or
germs. procured directly from the Spanish
| vineyards, and To- 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 or propagating the yeasts OF various
| kinds OF wines and putting them up in
Theoretically sealed bottles Tor such uses.
THE yeasts are obtained from the sedi-
ments of the vats, and TO propagate them
| is exceedingly easy, the only difficulty be
In IN afs isolate fhnEa
which produce the right sort of flavor and
aroma. You see, there are an immense
number of varieties OF such vegetable or
ganisms and the quality OF the wine de-
| pends mainly upon the kind OF fungi
which make the fermentation. Hitherto
such matters have been left TO chance,
and hence the great differences in the
| quality of vintageS, q given vineyard
| yielding in some years a product OF
much finer quality than in others. The
grapes are the same, the processes used
are Identical. but the microscopic fungi
that get into the raw grape juice vary In
kind.
For some time past brewers have fully
understood this Idea IL applies to beer,
and in their establishments nothing is
considered quite so important as the pre-
servation and propagation of particular
species of germs for accomplishing the
work of fermentation. Only recently
have winemakers applied the principle in
their business but the results already OBJ
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-producins industry of that State.
Frorngati he Fun-i.
Here is a little tHbe containing, as you
will notice, a small quantity of gelatine.
Tha urhi no. Tqh NErhf oh h.
surface of the gelatine is a colony OF
wine-fermenting germs, numbering mil
lions probably. SuppOsing that / wish to
propagate these valuable fungi. 1 remove
the stopper of absorbent cotton from the
neck of the tube and touch the yeast
patch with the ZIP of platinum needle
previously heated to destroy all other
germs that may have adhered 10 IL. Then
1 place the needle point in contact with
another bit of stertliZed gelatine, or some
other substance suitable for the tiny Or
ganisms 10 feed upon. and behold! fresh
colony Of them Is started
In this way the fungi may be multi
piled indefinitely, but IL has been found
that the best stuff TO breed them in is
simply grape juice. That Is the culture
medium used by Jacquemin and other
great producers of wine-yeasts in Europe
You buy the stun In bottles, as / have
said, and put pint of it perhaps into
each vat Of fresh juice from the vine
yard, as soon as possible after the grapes
germs begin 20 multiply, and within few
hours the fact that they are hard at work
is made evident by symptoms of active
fermentation. Having got so good a start,
they literally crowd out all other and less
desirable kinds of fungi that may get in
TO the must, and develop at leisure the
aroma and flavor most valued iu the wine.
THE famous Prof. Workman has been
the chief worker In this new and prom
ising field. He took the finest Rhine
wines, for example, made cultures from
the vat sediments, and thus obtained
pure breeds OF the most eligible micro
organisms. Then. for the sake of expert
ment, he made similar cultures from or
dlnary brands and introduced each kind
Of germs into a separate receptacle of
fresh grape-juice. previously sterllized BY
heat, the grape-jutce being all taken from
one vat. The results were very strik-
ing, each receptacle presently yielding. "a
wine. That which was poorest might
have fetched . cents a hottie, while the
best-fermented with the selected fungi
was worth B.
Bottled wIne-yeasts.
'"The bottled wine-yeasts are being put
10 most important use In regions where
the desirable fungi do not occur natur-
ally. They are adYantageously employed
also In the far north OF Europe, where
such vegetable organisms are less plenti-
fgl than In the south Plants In general.
of course, are less abundant in cold than
In warm latitudes, and these humble mem
bers of that kingdom follow the rule AS
an Illustration of this. the best Rhine
wines are produced in the Rheingau dis
trict, between Bingen and Mayence-a
hllly country, sloping toward the south
and well warmed by the sun, while pro-
tected In some degree from north winds.
Here the best wine-yessts exist naturally
and plentifuily, while few miles away
the vineyards, growing the same grapes
send 10 market inferior and low-priced
wines. poor III alcohol.
Ee If tail -HraH "a for
red wines has been adopted extensively OF
late, and laboratories IN Switzerland, az
well as In France, are putting these bot
tied fungi on the market ia large quanti-
ties. II Is found desirstIe 10 employ for
each kind OF wine itg own peculiar germs
for example, Burgundy yeast for Bur
gundy. and so forth--rather than 20 mix
them up. Each species of fungus seems
TO patroniZs by preference a particular
sort OF gTape-i juice, and does not DO such
good work when applied TO any other
sort The contents Of each vat are ster-
illzed by heat before the fluid culture IS
put IN. and. as / have stated. the dose Is
administered as early az possible after
the grapes have been squeezed.
Increase In Cider Making.
The cIder.mRking business OF Europe
has grown greatly within recent years.
and IN Germany II has attained immense
proportions. csntertng at Frankfort Pro-
ducers Of the article have succeeded IA
obtaining cultures Of the fungi which
create. In the process Of fermentation. the
finest cider. and they apply them 20 the
apple juice much a. wine-nn&kers utilize
yeasis for grape juice. In this manner
exact results are secured In respect 20
quality Of product. and already the finest
sparkling elders Of Frankfort are com-
peiing with the lesser grades OF cham
payne. Briefly. the cider manufacturers
have learned 70 employ the methods
adopted by brewers ten years ago. util-
izipg pure yeasts In preference 20 going
IL blind and trusting 70 chance.
similar yeasts. scientifically evolved.
are now used In the making Of certain
iiausurs. such az 'klrsch, and j ought not
10 forget 20 mention that they are also
employed in the manufacture Of CONNER
cial alcohol. producing higher per cent.
Of that article from potatoes or grain
than can be got by ordinary fermenta-
ton. member OF the French Academy
nf EeiEncrs ~ The N.aN dlEenYGreI rnf