_by Philip Wagner and J. R. McGrew_[15]
Grapes are the world's leading fruit crop and the eighth most important
food crop in the world, exceeded only by the principal cereals and
starchy tubers. Though substantial quantities are used for fresh fruit,
raisins, juice and preserves, most of the world's annual production of
about 60 million metric tons is used for dry (non-sweet) wine.
Wine is of great antiquity, as every Bible reader knows, and a
traditional and important element in the daily fare of millions. Used in
moderation, it is wholesome and nourishing, and gives zest to the
simplest diet. It is a source of a broad range of essential minerals,
some vitamins, and easily assimilated calories provided by its moderate
alcoholic content.
In its beginnings, winemaking was as much a domestic art as breadmaking
and cheesemaking. It still is, wherever grapes are grown in substantial
quantity. Though much wine is now produced industrially, many of the
world's most famous wines are still made on what amounts to a family
scale, the grapegrower being the winemaker as well.
Production of good dry table wine for family use is not difficult,
provided certain essential rules are observed.
_The right grapes._ Quality of a wine depends first of all on the grapes
it is made from. As is true of other fruits, there are hundreds of grape
varieties. They fall in three main groups.
First, there are the classic _vinifera_ wine grapes of Europe. These
also dominate the vineyards of California, with its essentially
Mediterranean climate. But several centuries of trial have shown that
they are not at home in most other parts of the United States.
Second, there are the traditional American sorts such as Concord,
Catawba, Delaware, and Niagara, which are descendants of our wild grapes
and much grown where the _vinifera_ fail. They have pronounced aromas
and flavors, often called foxy, which, though relished in the fresh
state by many, reduce their value for wine.
Third, there are the French or French-American hybrids, introduced in
recent years and now superseding the traditional American sorts for
winemaking. The object in breeding these was to combine fruit resembling
the European wine grapes with vines having the winter hardiness and
disease resistance of the American parent. They may be grown for
winemaking where the pure European wine grapes will not succeed.
_What wine is._ Simply described, wine is the product of the
fermentation of sound, ripe grapes. If a quantity of grapes is crushed
into an open half-barrel or other suitable vessel, and covered, the
phenomenon of fermentation will be noticeable within a day or two,
depending on the ambient temperature. It is initiated by the yeasts
naturally present on the grapes, which begin to multiply prodigiously
once the grapes are crushed.
Fermentation continues for three to ten days, throwing off gas and a
vinous odor. In the process, the sugar of the grapes is reduced to
approximately half alcohol and half carbon dioxide gas, which escapes.
Fermentation subsides when all the sugar has been used up. The murky
liquid is then drained and pressed from the solid matter and allowed to
settle and clear in a closed container.
The resulting liquid is wine--not very good wine if the constituents of
the grapes were not in balance, and readily spoiled, but wine
nevertheless.
Beneath the apparent simplicity, the evolution of grapes into wine is a
series of complex biochemical reactions. Thus winemaking can be as
simple or as complex as you wish to make it. The more you understand and
control the process, the better the wine. The following instructions
cover only the essentials of sound home winemaking.
Under Federal law the head of a household may make up to 200 gallons of
wine a year for family use, but is first required to notify the Treasury
Department's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms on Form 1541.