Improvements in the Manufacture of Wine and in Apparatus therefor.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd Aug., 1890-Accepted, 27th Sept., 1890
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Wine and in Apparatus
therefor.
I, GEORGE FREDERICK REDFERN, of the firm of G. F. Redfern & Co., the General
Patent Office, No. 4, South Street, Finsbury, in the County of London, Patent Agents,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention (a cominunication from abroad by
Gustav Perscheid, of Jersey City, in the United States of America) and in what
manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to a method of manufacturing effervescing or sparkling
wines and to apparatus therefor whereby a bright and perfectly clear wine is produced
directly the fermentation is completed; the settlement of lees on the bottoms of the
bottles when they are being filled is avoided and the time required for manufacturing
the wine is materially reduced.
According to this invention the manufacture of wines is effected similarly to the
manufacture of champagne that is to say, without the employment of artificial
carbonic acid, but the clarification of the wine takes place in the apparatus instead
of in the bottles.
By this means not only is a great saving of time effected but the moving and
frequent shaking and turning of the bottles during the period of fermentation and
also the washing out of the bottles after the fermentation is over are completely
avoided. The wine to be treated is placed in a strong wooden vat or cask over
which is arranged an airtight receiver provided with a manometer and a draw off
tube. By this means the carbonic acid given off during the fermentation of the
wine is collected and prevented from escaping and after the fermentation and clari-
fication are completed it can be introduced into the bottles together with the wine,
during which process the lees which have alrealy mainly been deposited in the vat
can be completed separated from the wine so as to render it perfectly clear, by a
suitable filtering apparatus before it is introduced into the bottles. The retention
of the lees in the vat is assisted by providing the bottom with a number of
protuberances or their equivalents.
To enable the invention to be fully understood, I will describe how it can be
carried into practice by reference to the accompanying drawing in which
Figure 1 is a vertical section of an apparatus which I have designed and found
suitable for the manufacture of wine according to my invention the section being
taken on the line ax of Figure 2.
Figure 2 is a plan of the said apparatus.
Figure 3 is an elevation and plan of the wooden vat and
Figure 4 represents similar views of the receiver.
A is the open wooden vat provided with a draw off tube a and above which a
vessel or receiver B is arranged for receiving the carbonic acid disengaged during
the fermentation.
The draw-off tube a of the wooden vat A passes through the bottom 6 of the
receiver B and leads to a filter C.
The neck of the receiver B is closed by a cover d provided with a tube e having
a cock e. In connection with the tube e is a manometer f and two lateral tubes g
and having cocks g' and ' respectively.
The tube g leads to a vessel D which serves to receive any excess of carbonic acid
gas which may be set free during the fermentation. The tube h conducts the
carbonic acid to the bottle. The receiver B is further provided with an ice-jacket B'.
The cock i serves to withdraw water from the ice-jacket. The filter C has a draw off
tube which also leads to the bottle. The cock k¹ in the tube k serves to establish

page_text: or cut off communication with the bottle.
in the usual way against a mouth piece
are fitted.
The bottle E while being filled is pressed
in which the ends of the tubes k and h
The bottom of the vat A is furnished with projections or protuberances which tend
to retain the deposit which is formed in the vat during the fermentation and so allow
the wine to flow out through the draw off tube a in a clarified condition.
Any particles of lees which might be carried through with the wine are stopped
by the filter C placed at the end of the tube a.
The apparatus is used in the following manner :-
The wine to be treated is first poured into the vat A during which the draw off
cock a¹ must be closed and the air is excluded by placing on the cover d.
The cock e¹ is opened and the cocks g¹ and h¹ are shut.
As soon as fermentation commences carbonic acid gas is generated and is collected
in the enclosed space of the receiver B. The pressure thus produced is indicated
by the manometer or pressure gauge f. As soon as the pressure exceeds a certain
degree the cock g' is opened and the excess of carbonic acid gas flows through the
tube to the vessel D. When the fermentation is completed the jacket B¹ is filled
with ice in order to cool the wine contained in the vat A. The lees which have been
formed during the process fall to the bottom and form a sediment which fills up the
spaces between the projections with which it is provided. A period of 12 hours is
required for this precipitation to be completed.
The wine which has been clarified in this manner is forced through the tube a,
filter C and tube k to the mouthpiece 7 and finally into the bottle E. The cocks h¹
and in the tube h are open during this part of the process so that both wine and
carbonic acid gas enter the bottle E through the mouthpiece 1. The carbonic acid
gas which passes off from the receiver B is replaced by that contained in the vessel D
so that during the filling operation the pressure inside the receiver B continues.
By this process the fermentation and clarification of the wine which is to be
converted into effervescing or sparkling wine take place in a relatively short time in
the vat A or in other words inside the receiver B and the fermentation may
further be hastened by raising the temperature and a saving of time and money is
effected.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is
(1) The herein described method of manufacturing effervescing or sparkling wines,
by fermenting and clarifying the wine in a vat surrounded by a receiver in such a
manner that the carbonic acid gas set free during the fermentation is collected, and
introduced into the bottle simultaneously with the clarified wine.
(2) The improved apparatus for manufacturing effervescing or sparkling wines
comprising a vat open at the top and provided with a draw-off tube a and placed
inside an air tight receiver fitted with tubes for conveying the carbonic acid gas to
the vessel D and to the bottle to be filled; a draw off tube whereby the fermented
and clarified wine is drawn off from the vat; protuberances with which the bottom is
provided for keeping back the lees, and a tube connected with a filter for preventing
the passage of particles of lees to the bottle substantially as herein before described
and illustrated in the accompanying drawing.
Dated the 22nd day of A nonst 1800.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.