CELLAR HYGIENE AND MANAGEMENT.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume XI, Issue 4, 20 October 1915, Page 303

CELLAR HYGIENE AND MANAGEMENT.

HINTS TO WINEGROWERS.

A. H. MAZURE.

The writer, who has just returned from a visit of inspection to the majority of the vineyards and cellars of the North Island, naturally observed many things, and, judging from these observations, the following hints should not come amiss to the vigneron who is also the proprietor, of a wine-cellar. . ■

CLEANLINESS

The first and most essential thing, in winemaking and in the management of . a cellar is absolute, cleanliness. The impression that •, a visitor gets when he sees a well-kept, well-ordered, and clean cellar is always a . good one it conveys to. him the idea that the product of that particular establishment must be good. If, on the other hand, the place is dirty and ill-kept, the impression obtained is not by any means a good one. What person would like. to think of buying milk or cream from a dairyman who works in a dirty cow-byre, and whose cows are milked by a dirty milker ? The same thing applies to the winemaker.

To begin with, pick up all the stray bungs and chocks, and pack them away tidily in a handy box. When there is an overflow on to the floor clean it up at once. Dry wines, and especially the young and fairly aged wines, are very susceptible to innumerable diseases, and this is generally the way the trouble commences : The mess on the floor is not cleaned up ; the buckets and tubs are not washed after being used ; the hose which is used for drawing off wine is hung over a cask to drain, but rarely washed out. Wash everything always and every time it is used, and do not forget the pump. It does not take long, and will save time and endless worry. ■lf this is not done the wine will later on probably become cloudy, and there will be a great difficulty in clearing it; perhaps it will not clear at all, and the vigneron actually wonders why.

Another point: when there is an overflow do riot let the wine dry on the cask. When racking, have a bucket of water handy with a handful of ordinary washing-soda in —or, better, a little

caustic soda—and wash the top of the cask. The soda will neutralize the acidity of the wine, and also act as a check against the acetic germs {My coderma aceti). Do not use bung-cloths; avoid them as you would the plague. When once wet with wine they will become sour. This means contamination of the contents of the cask. Do not be afraid to use lime in the cellar. If there is a peculiar smell about the place that is not appreciated, sweep the cellar out and sprinkle some slaked lime all over the floor, and the odour will very soon disappear. . When cask-washing do not throw the washings just outside the door ; in the summer ..the resultant stench is abominable. If there is no drain, make one, and sweep it down occasionally and lime it.

HOW TO MAKE A CASK AIRTIGHT.

In many cases, after the 'vigrieroh. ’mas . taken a sample from a cask he , furiously hammers in : the bung with , a . mallet or hammer. He believes he is making that cask airtight. He certainly may make his cask airtight,. but at the same time he is ruining the staves and the burg-hole,. and he will find this procedure' an expensive one. If he acts as now described he will not go wrong : Render ■ down 7 lb. of unsalted mutton-fat. When this is boiling add 7 lb. whiting . powdered as finely as possible.. Boil together for .fiveminutes, then melt 1 lb., of good beeswax and pour it into the mixture, stirring thoroughly. Pour, the whole compound into a suitable receptacle (an ordinary ■, tin dish will do), and stand it in a cool place. Next day it will be set hard. When it is necessary to . bung ,up a cask and make it airtight scrape off as much of the fat-mixture as can be conveniently held in one hand. Work it up under cold water until it becomes about the consistency of putty. Tap the bung lightly into the cask with the hand, and press The mixture in all round it. If this is carried out properly the cask is airtight; there is no damage done, no searching in dark corners, for the bung-starter or the hammer, no needless swearing ; for when it is necessary to open that - cask again a tap of the hand on the bung and it comes out quite easily. The above preparation is used practically everywhere throughout the winemaking countries of the world, and is very highly recommended. • It has practically no taste or smell, and it has no effect whatever on* wine of any description. It can be used many times over. . Paraffin-wax. .for this purpose is absolutely useless ; it cracks, and is very much ■ more difficult , and troublesome to apply.

SULPHURING.

When a cask of dry wine is ullaged burn a tiny piece of sulphur match in the cask over the wine. Bung the cask up airtight in the manner already described. Do this every time the ■cask is drawn from, and the wine left, will keep perfectly sound until the cask is emptied. The sulphur matches can be made by any one Take a strip of calico 2 in. or 3 in. wide, dip it into melted sulphur, and hold it out to dry (it dries almost immediately). Be sure to wash the lime out of the calico before making the matches. Be careful when sulphuring that the match is not shaken ■off the wire into the cask, or one will be inclined to wonder how that obnoxious taste got into the wine. Never sulphur casks after washing until they are perfectly dry. I have tasted what would have been excellent wine had it not been racked into a " wet cask freshly sulphured.'

METHOD IN THE CELLAR.

In • arranging the casks in the cellar, have . all the dry. white wines together, all the dry reds, ■ the sweet whites, the sweet reds, and so on. Do not have a cask of port here, one of claret alongside, and then a sherry. •It means innumerable chalk-marks on the heads of the casks, and leads to endless confusion. When wine-tasting do not start off with a sweet red and * then taste a dry white. Take them in order, commencing with the light -dry whites, then the light dry reds, winding up with the sweet wines. ■ Many of the above points may appear trivial, but after all it is these little things that count. ■