MAKING SMALL QUANTITIES OF WINE.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume VI, Issue 2, 15 February 1913, Page 197

MAKING SMALL QUANTITIES OF WINE.

S. F. Anderson.

If the quantity of grapes to be dealt with is not large say, up to 500 lb. —the appliances for making the wine are very simple. Every 16 lb. to 17 lb. of grapes yields a gallon of juice or, as it is generally called, “ must.” Therefore 500 lb. of grapes will make from 30 to 35 gallons of wine. • To ferment this quantity an ordinary wine or ■ spirit hogshead with the head taken out and stood on end will serve very well. Its capacity should be 60 gallons, as the cap of skins and the rising by fermentation takes up a much greater space than that required for the must. The hogshead should be placed on a stand of some kind to allow of a bucket being put under the tap in. the bottom of the hogshead.It is most likely the grapes will not contain more, than 19 per cent, of saccharine, so that to make a good-keeping dry (not sweet) wine it will be necessary to add lib. of the best sugar to every gallon of the must. When fermentation takes place this sugar, together with the saccharine contained in the grape, naturally is converted into alcohol, which keeps the wine. ' If you desire a sweet wine the sugar must be increased to 3 lb. to the gallon. ■

Utensils required. One freshly emptied spirit or»wine hogshead, 60 gallons; one freshly emptied spirit quarter-cask, about 35 gallons ; one half-inch wire sieve ; one wooden bucket or large enamel jug for dipping and carrying; one good-sized tap (1 in.) put in bottom of hogshead to draw off the wine when fermentation is completed. To make the Wine. See that the grapes . are perfectly ripe; if inclining to shrivel, so much the better. The success of wine depends on the perfect ripeness and condition of the grapes. Place a couple of battens across the top of the open hogshead to rest the sieve on. Then rub the grapes through the sieve, leaving the stems behind. The object, of passing them through the sieve is to break the grape and keep back the stems. When all the grapes have been rubbed through add the sugar. Fermentation starts immediately unless the weather is very cold. As soon as fermentation sets in strong you will find the grape-skins floating on the top like a cap. This cap must be frequently broken up and pushed down. The top of the hogshead should be kept covered with a piece of close calico and a loose hoop to drop over and keep it in its place. Adding sugar to the must prolongs the fermentation considerably, so that this may go on for some weeks. When it has ceased the wine should be drawn off by tap at the bottom of the hogshead and put into the fresh whisky quarter-cask and filled to the top or bung-hole, but not bunged up until all fermentation has ceased. A small bag of sand is a good thing to put over the bung-hole, as it permits the carbonic-acid gas to escape and prevents the air getting to the wine. The wine is now made, and only wants racking oft, when thoroughly settled and clear, into another cask of the same size. It should be kept for two or more years before using. In the meantime the cask must be kept full. Any air-space may cause some defects ■in the wine. When it is considered sufficiently matured it should be bottled right off. The following hints should be observed : Do not let the must or the wine come in contact with iron any more than can be helped. The rubbing of the grapes through the sieve must be completed in one day. If the. grapes are weighed as picked it will be easy to calculate the number of gallons that can be expected. All utensils must be very clean. The casks, if freshly emptied of spirit, > need not be further cleansed. The wine should be kept in a cool place and not subjected to, great changes of temperature. A bunch of dry twigs (dead tea-tree serves very well) tied over the tap inside the cask will assist to prevent the tap choking up with the lees. Some means will be required to press the skins. A false perforated bottom to the hogshead which would permit the wine to go through is the best I can suggest. The skins could then be tramped upon after the wine has been drawn oft'.