SUGARING AND WATERING MUST.
=Sugaring.=—As early as 1776, Macquer, in France, found that by adding
sugar to the must of green grapes, he could make wine; and since his
time many authors, notably Chaptal, Gall, and Petiot, have recommended
the addition of sugar to the must of bad years when the grapes did
not ripen; and had the practice been limited to the addition of
sufficient sugar of good quality to a must which was deficient in that
respect, but little harm would have been done. The next step, however,
was to take the must of partly ripe grapes which contained an undue
quantity of acid, and reduce it by the addition of water till the acid
corresponded in quantity to that contained in a must of ripe grapes,
and then to add sufficient sugar to bring it up again to the necessary
degree of sweetness. This may be permissible in those countries where
in some years the grapes do not ripen, and in order to make a drinkable
wine, water to reduce the acid, and sugar to give sweetness, must
be added. But this did not satisfy the greed of the artificial wine
makers; they found, so they say, that they could press the juice from
the grapes, ferment it by itself, then add to the marc water and sugar
enough to bring it back to its original quantity and sugar strength,
draw off the artificial juice slightly colored by the skins, and repeat
the operation, and so make three and four times the quantity of wine
that could otherwise be made, and _all good wine_.
It was thought that wine making in Europe would be revolutionized,
and untold wealth would pour into the coffers of the wine makers. It
was found, however, that cane sugar was too expensive, but artificial
glucose could be made from grain and potatoes at a very small cost,
and by reason of its cheapness its use was forthwith recommended; and
to such an extent was the matter carried, that one would suppose that
in order to make good wine, it was only necessary to soak a few grape
skins in a quantity of sweetened water and let it ferment!
The practice, however, to the extent mentioned, did not commend itself
to sensible men, and wine making did not become revolutionized. Yet it
was to some extent adopted, and the effect upon the wines of Burgundy
is shown by Dubrunfaut in his work on _Sucrage de Moûts_. He says that
starch-sugar (glucose) factories were established in Burgundy, and
from 1825 to 1845, this material was used to strengthen the musts. But
complaints arose in France and elsewhere against Burgundy wines; they
had a new flavor, and unexpected changes in many respects had come over
them. A congress of wine makers was held at Dijon in 1845, at which
the abandonment of the use of glucose was decreed upon the report of a
committee of merchants and proprietors of Beaune, which was in effect
as follows: that the long extolled and generally practiced system of
sugaring, and against which a reaction set in some years ago, ought to
be completely abandoned, as being fatal (_funeste_) to Burgundy. He
considers, however, as do some others who condemn the use of glucose,
that the use of refined cane sugar is unobjectionable if used in small
quantities and merely to fortify the must when it needs it. There are
many authors, however, who speak highly of the wines produced by the
addition of sugar and water to the skins after the juice has been drawn
off, but it does not seem reasonable that a good wine can be made in
that manner. If a good must contained only water, sugar, and acids,
then there would be reason for believing that the wine so made would be
good. But it is well known that many other ingredients enter into the
composition of the juice of the grape which, in some unknown manner,
have a very important influence upon the wine made from it. Attempts
have been made to produce an artificial must, which is carrying the
process but little farther than it is carried by some of the writers on
the subject; but Mr. Boireau says that what is produced resembles cider
rather than wine. He gives the following composition as approaching
very nearly a must for common white wine:
Refined Sugar, 25 kilog.
Tincture of tannin, 20 gr.
Crystals of tartaric acid, 500 gr.
Gum arabic, 1 kilog.
Vine leaves and fresh twigs chopped, 5 kilog.
Distilled or filtered water, 1 hectol.
The author last quoted is a practical man, and his opinion is valuable.
He says, when the fermentation of this artificial must is most active,
it has analogies with ordinary white wine, but it costs much more than
the natural wine; and when its fermentation is complete, it has not a
bad taste, and there is nothing hurtful in its composition, but that
it has not the _taste of white wine_; and the only time when it has
any analogy to white wine is during the tumultuous fermentation as
already mentioned. Many attempts have been made to vary the formula,
but without important results. Tolerably agreeable drinks are obtained,
_but they are not wine_. M. Boussingault gives his experience in
sugaring and watering must; and the wine produced lacked acid, color,
astringency, and was very inferior to the wine first made from the pure
juice; it lacked the fixed substances and aromatic principles. He says
that some would prefer it to cider, but that it only differed from
_piquette_ in having a greater degree of alcohol.
To give even a summary of what has been written upon this subject would
occupy a volume, but the results arrived at by the more intelligent
modern writers and experimenters may be summed up as follows:
1. That good wine can be made only from the pure
juice of the grape.
2. That in case the grapes do not ripen sufficiently
to make a drinkable wine, water may be added to reduce
the acid, and then sugar enough to bring it up to the
average sugar strength; but in no case should any but
the refined cane sugar be used; artificial glucose, never.
=Nothing gained by adding Sugar.=—Aside from the question of quality,
it may not be amiss to add a few remarks for the benefit of intended
wine makers who may have been led to believe, by mistaken authors,
that the profits of wine making may be increased by adding sugar
and water, and thereby augmenting the quantity. Assuming that it is
permissible to use only refined sugar, it can easily be shown that it
is as cheap, if not cheaper, to make wine from grapes than from sugar,
as long as grapes can be bought for $30 per ton.
A gallon of dry wine of average specific gravity, containing 10 per
cent. by weight, or 12.4 by volume, of alcohol, weighs about 8¼ pounds,
and contains about .825 of a pound of pure alcohol. To produce a pound
of alcohol requires about 2¼ lbs. of pure grape sugar, or 2.138 lbs. of
pure cane sugar, in practice, according to the chapter on fermentation;
so that to produce the .825 lbs. of alcohol in one gallon of wine,
requires about 1.80 lbs. of pure cane sugar. But refined crystalized
sugar is not pure sugar (anhydrous), as it contains about 10 per
cent. of water; so, to make our 1.8 of pure sugar, requires 2 lbs. of
ordinary refined sugar. At 10 cents per pound, which would be cheap for
this market, it would cost 20 cents to make the must for a gallon of
wine.
Supposing that a ton of grapes costs $30, and produces 150 gallons of
wine, each gallon would cost 20 cents. So that there is nothing to be
gained by adding sugar at 10 cents a pound, even if a ton of grapes
costs $30 a ton, for the same facts would apply to every pound of sugar
added to a must, as well as in the case supposed, where all the sugar
was supplied.
=Cost of Glucose Wine.=—Supposing that artificial glucose contains 80
per cent. of pure (anhydrous) sugar, it would require 2⅓ lbs. to make
our gallon of wine; and if it could be laid down here at 5 cents a
pound, the gallon of wine would cost nearly 12 cents, and this would be
equivalent to paying $18 a ton for grapes.
When we take into consideration that every pound of glucose and
water added to a must will diminish the price of every gallon of
wine produced, it is probable that but little, if anything, could be
gained even by the use of this article; for the product will not bring
the price of an honest wine, and in the long run will destroy the
reputation of our wines, and reflect injury upon every wine maker in
the State.
=Experiment with Glucose.=—Mr. Crabb, of Oakville, gave his experience
with glucose in a paper read before the St. Helena Vinicultural Club,
in July, 1882, as follows: I took three packages of equal size, one
containing pure grape juice, the two others containing each equal parts
of the same juice and glucose water, all showing 23 per cent. sugar by
Balling’s saccharometer. The pure juice was dry in 15 days (the room
being cold). One package of the mixture was dry in 30 days; the other
continued in fermentation 60 days, both emitting a rank offensive odor
during the process, arising from the amount of chalk and sulphuric acid
required in its (glucose) manufacture. Racking at this time appeared
to remove the greater part of the offensive odor, and in 30 days the
wine was clear and bright enough to pass for a two-years’-old wine. I
now thought it contained a very superior fining principle, and if a
small enough quantity would answer the purpose, it might be a valuable
acquisition. But this was its most favorable period; it had reached
its zenith, and while the pure juice was now beginning to develop its
vinous properties, the mixture commenced to deteriorate, becoming flat
and insipid, as any grape juice would by being one-half water, and the
sulphuric acid and chalk (sulphate of lime) developing a disagreeable
after-taste. Notwithstanding that I have racked it again and fined
it to a perfect condition, there is not the least improvement, and I
believe as it becomes more dry with age, that the bitter, nauseous
after-taste will become more and more pronounced, so that one glass of
it will leave such a lasting impression on the palate as to never want
any more; whereas, the package of pure juice is now vinous, sprightly,
refreshing and inviting.
=The use of Glucose condemned.=—On the 16th day of July, 1881, the
St. Helena Vinicultural Association adopted resolutions condemning
in the strongest terms the use of glucose in the making of wine and
brandy, and promising to expose all parties importing or receiving the
substance by publishing their names, and pledging the Society to use
all honorable means to prevent the adulteration of the product of our
vineyards. The resolutions passed unanimously, and were published in
the different newspapers. One man in the district, notwithstanding the
warning, did cause to be shipped to him a quantity of glucose, and the
President and Secretary of the Society published in several different
newspapers, in December, 1881, over their own signatures, and in the
name of the Association, a notice reciting the resolutions, and stating
that a person (giving his name) “imported eighty barrels of grape
sugar, made from corn, commonly called glucose, and used the same, or
the greater part of it, in the manufacture of wine during the last
vintage.”
We believe that this was an exceptional case, and that its use in this
State has been exceedingly rare.
=Watering.=—Another question which has been a good deal discussed
is, whether it is better to pick the grapes as soon as they develop
sufficient sugar, or leave them on the vine till they develop an
excess, and then reduce the must with water. Dr. Guyot having laid it
down as a fundamental principle in wine making in France, that the
grapes should be left on the vine as late as possible, and until they
have reached the highest point of maturity, except, _perhaps_, in some
of the most extreme southern portions, he is consistent in counseling
the addition of water to the must. But the only reason given by him
for it is that it is consonant with _his principle_ previously stated.
Du Breuil is also of the same opinion. Both are men of high authority,
but it does not appear that either of them ever made wine in a warm
climate, where the grapes would develop so much sugar as to require
the addition of water, if left upon the vine as late as possible. We
have, on the other hand, the testimony of Boireau, who, speaking on the
subject, says that it is probable that the theoreticians who are in
favor of the practice have never made wine of _must too rich in sugar
and of water_. He says, it is true that the quantity is increased, and
fermentation is complete, but that the wine so made is only fit for the
still, will not keep and readily turns sour. The Greeks have followed
this practice from time immemorial in the Archipelago, where he tasted
their wine so made in 1865, and which they can keep with difficulty for
one year, in spite of the addition of a large quantity of rosin, which
they introduce during fermentation. And yet, these wines are not weak,
having an average of 10½ to 11 per cent. of alcohol. He says that but
few grapes give musts too rich in sugar, if they are gathered as soon
as ripe; for even in viticultural countries situated farthest south, as
the south of France, Spain, Italy, Greece, and Africa, the grape _just
ripe_ gives a must which does not exceed 14° Baumé, unless left on the
vine until part of the water of vegetation has evaporated.
Having alluded to both sides of the question, it would seem to be a
fair inference from the foregoing that the safest course would be,
in a hot climate, to gather the grapes as soon as fairly ripe. This
may easily be done, where each grape grower makes his own wine, and
has immediate supervision of the picking, and has sufficient men to
finish it with promptness. But in the case of large manufacturers who
buy their grapes and cannot supervise or order the gathering in the
numerous vineyards whose crops they purchase, it may sometimes be
necessary, when the grapes come in overripe, and it is not desirable to
make sweet wine, to add a small quantity of water to insure prompt and
complete fermentation. When the necessity arises, great caution should
be used, and the necessity should be avoided when possible.