Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-11-30
WINE MAKING AT HOME
EAST SIDE FOREIGNERS IN NEW
YORK AND GRAPE JUICE.
Primitive Methods Employed by Ger
mans, Italians and Hebrews
Bare Feet Used.


WinemakerS py special appointment 10
themselves" are many of the people on the
east side The effervescent champagne not
being for them, they produce their own
vinous beverages. Over in their old Eu-
ropean home, with its vineyards, they had
their wine, making 1t as freely as the
New Highlander does hts cider, and much
after the same fashion Transportation
from the old land to the new has not
changed their habits. They still love the
juice of the grape.
In the making of wine these east siders
have adapted themselves to conditions. AS
they are acquainted with the process of
manufacture and drink it themselves, 1t
pehooVes no one to criticise the methods
employed. Each nationality appears to
have its own method, but all are equally
primitive and equally unattractive to those
who are sensitive to uncleaniiness. There
being no vineyards just beyond the city
walls, they go Into the market and buy
their grapes. In the case of one east side
German this year, a ton of grapes was
bought at cost of $50 and turned into four
barrels of wine. This quantity of wine was
made up of three barrels of juice and one
Of water.
Possibly the German employs a better
process than the Italian or the Jew. He
actually uses machinery designed for the
purpose. His process is closely analogous
except that the latter is apt to use horse
or water as motive power. A few barrels,
crusher consisting of hopper and
roller or two, operated by hand, and a
crude press, also worked by hand. com
prise the outfit. For a mill, he seeks some
out-of-the-way corner In lumber yard
or stable There, with crates of grapes
and dishpans and demijohns TO receive the
expressed Juice all a. Tut, he produces the
wine.
Crushing the Fruit.
The first operation is that of crushing
the fruit. The hopper, with its wheel. has
been placed on top of an open barrel, whose
sides are more or less streaked with the
blood of the grapes. 1t is filed with the
fruit AS the wheel is turned the crushed
grapes fall into the barrel below, a juicy
mass termed pulp. The pulp is taken from
the barrel and packed into the cylindrical
press. circular drum which fits into the
press snugly is then put on, and by means
of a bar working on a spiral thread pressed
home. The juice pours from the spout be-
meath into a large dishpan placed to re-
ceive it and Is thus collected. The pulp is
squeezed so hard that it becomes nearly
dry. 1t is laid in the sun to dry completely,
and may be used later for kindling fires. 1t
is said that for this purpose it is better than
pine knot
The juice at this stage of the process is
called must, or sweet wine. II it Is made
in considerable quantity, as in the case of
the German who bought ton Of grapes.
the juice is placed in casks which have been
carefully cleanSed and fumigated with sui
phur. The sulphur is suspended in the
barrel on wire and burned. If it refuses
to burn. this fact is an evidence that the
barrel contains carbonic acid gas which
the must gives off as it ferments. 1t is said
that in Germany number of deaths have
occurred from inhalng the gas which has
collected In tightly closed cellars containing
barrels of must.
"Federweisser"
To each barrel of must is added thirty
pounds of sugar. When eight DAYS old the
must, as one German wnemaker described
1t, commences to cook in itself" At this
juncture new name is given to it. 1t Is
new "federweisser." or new wine In the
course of time it settles down into wine.
ana may be sealed up in casks or bottles
without danger OF blowing them apart
The process used by the Italians is much
simpler than that of the Germans 1t also
Is less attractive from the point Of view
a barrel, with an orifce at the bottom to re-
lease the expressed juice and a stick to
one end or which is attached a block of
wood. The latter suggests a tamper in
appearance and method of application. A
boys bare feet and hands furnish the
power The grapes are thrown into the
barrel, pan having been set under the
spout. The boy then steps in on the mushy
lAAsiSS diiO Wlldl juice remains after his
feet have performed their duty in this
primitive winepress is mashed out with
the tamper. Sometimes the tamper strikes
the boys feet instead of the grapes The
result very frequently is a suddenly aug
mented flow of grape juice from the spout
Passover Wine.
The Hebrews do not seem to be so par-
ticular as to the method of making their
wine as they are regarding the condition
of the utensils which the grapes and the
juice are likely to come in contact with.
In making the Passover wine, any dish.
table, barrel or bottle which may have come
in contact with bread is put aside The
wine must not touch any vessel or article
so contaminated. Sometimes the grapes
are pressed between the fingers; some
times they are twisted in bag; sometimes
a clothes wringer and a washtub serve the
purpose for expressing and catching the
juice, and sometimes the grapes are put
into a tub, and following the methods of
the Jews in their early history, are stamped
upon with bare feet.
In some of the countries from which
the people of the east side come the close
of the wine making season is marked with
festivities These customs were left be-
hind. No gay contadine gather in the small
parks which Father Knickerbocker has
planted in that quarter to make holiday
and add picturesquenesS to the city's life;
but the wine is enjoyed in the drinking
of it, just the same