WHITE WINE.
=Made from both Red and White Grapes.=—As the color of grapes resides
entirely in the skins, with the exception of a few varieties such as
the _Tienturiers_ and the American variety _Lenoir_, which have colored
juice, with these exceptions, white wine may be made from both white
and colored grapes.
=Differences between Red and White Wine.=—Instead of putting the
pomace into fermenting vats, it is taken immediately to the press, and
the juice is fermented by itself, free from stems, skins, and seeds,
and is therefore not only free from the coloring matter contained
in the skins, but also from the numerous matters that are contained
in red wine, extracted from the pomace during fermentation. It is
true that white wine may be made from white grapes by the process
that is employed in making red wine from colored grapes, but then it
ceases to be what is commonly called white wine, and possesses all
the characteristics of red wine except its color, which of itself has
little effect upon the wine, except to change its appearance; for
when white wine has been colored by the addition of a small quantity
of very dark wine, it remains white wine still in all its other
characteristics, and the difference is readily detected by experts.
=Hygienic effects of Red and of White Wine.=—Dr. Guyot says that white
wines generally are diffusible stimulants of the nervous system; if
they are light, they act rapidly upon the human organism, and excite
all its functions. But they escape as readily by the skin and excretory
organs, and their effect is of short duration. Red wines, on the other
hand, are tonic and persistent stimulants of the nerves, muscles, and
digestive organs; their action is slower and more prolonged; they do
not increase perspiration or the excretions, and their action generally
is astringent, persistent, and concentrated.
=Process of Making.=—As the must comes from the press it is either
immediately run into casks, or is first put into a vat to settle. In
the latter case it is allowed to stand in the settling vat from twelve
to twenty-four hours, and a large portion of the yeasty parts settle
to the bottom, a thick scum rises to the surface, and the must becomes
partially cleared. The scum is then skimmed from the top, and the
liquid is drawn off into casks, leaving the heavy lees. By this means
a great part of the fermentive matter is immediately removed, and the
wine does not ferment as thoroughly nor as rapidly as it otherwise
would, and retains a portion of its sugar and its sweetness longer. In
the Champagne districts the musts for sparkling wines are thus treated.
If the weather is very warm, it may not be practicable to do this,
because fermentation will set in before the must has time to settle.
If, however, it is desired to make a dry wine, the must is not put into
a settling vat, but is run from the press directly into the casks.
=The Barrels= in which white wine is fermented and stored are generally
of small size, of a capacity of from 30 to 150 gallons, or say 50 or 60
gallons on an average, and it is considered in France that it preserves
its good qualities in casks of moderate size better than in large ones.
It is to be understood, however, that it is considered advisable in
most parts of France that white wine should retain a portion of its
sweetness and be mellow rather than dry; but if it is desirable to make
a dry wine, larger casks may be used for fermenting and storing. (But
see _Summary of Rules_, below, and _Casks_.)
=Filling the Barrels during Fermentation.=—A question upon which
there is some difference of opinion, is whether the casks should be
immediately filled to their full capacity and kept filled up during
the first fermentation, so that the scum and foam will be thrown out
of the bung, or whether a vacant space shall be left in each barrel,
so that all the matter thrown up by the fermentation shall remain. The
objections to allowing the wine to _boil over_ are that much good wine
is thereby lost, and the outside of the barrels and the floor of the
fermenting house or cellar becomes foul. When the active fermentation
ceases, whatever has been thrown up in the form of a dirty scum
will settle to the bottom with the rest of the lees, and is no more
injurious than the latter. If, however, the foam is allowed to run
over by keeping the barrels full, a portion of the yeasty parts will
be thrown out, fermentation will not go on as tumultuously nor be as
complete, and the wine will longer retain a portion of its sweetness.
So that the practice in this behalf, as in most others where there is a
diversity of practices in making white wine, depends upon whether it is
desired to make a very dry wine, or one that retains a portion of its
sugar. But in the Champagne districts, although they allow the marc to
settle, they do not allow it to run over in fermenting.
=Pressing and Filling.=—The pomace is pressed in the same manner as
the marc of red wine, in two or three different pressings. The usual
practice is to fill the barrels with an equal amount of must from each
pressing, so that the contents of all shall be uniform in quality. If
it is known beforehand how much wine can be made from a given quantity
of grapes, the requisite number of barrels will be provided for each
lot, and the must of each pressing will be equally distributed in all.
(See _General Chapter_.)
=Different kinds of White Wine.=—Boireau divides white wines into
three classes: dry, mellow, and sweet, whose characteristics depend
essentially upon the density of their musts.
=In Dry White Wines= fermentation is complete, and all the sugar that
is appreciable by the taste or the hydrometer, except the small amount
changed into other substances, is transformed into alcohol and carbonic
acid. The grapes are gathered as soon as ripe, and are not allowed to
shrivel. The density of the must rarely exceeds 13° Baumé.
=Mellow White Wines= are those which preserve a small quantity of sugar
after the tumultuous fermentation has ceased, and which gives them
mellowness and unctuosity. To produce these wines, it is necessary to
increase the density of the must, which is accomplished in the Gironde
by leaving the grapes upon the vines until they shrivel and turn brown
(white grapes are used), and they are gathered by several successive
pickings. The density of the must is from 12° to 15° Baumé. These wines
occupy the place between dry wines and sweet wines.
=White Sweet Wines= (=vins de liqueur=) are those which preserve a
considerable portion of their sugar, which renders them very sweet. And
in order that they may retain their sweetness in aging, the must should
mark 15° to 20° Baumé.
=The Grand White Wines= of France and Germany do not require any
different treatment from that already described, except that the
greatest care is exercised in assorting the grapes and allowing them
to arrive at the period of greatest maturity, and, of course, they are
made from the choicest varieties.
In describing the condition in which the grapes are when gathered, the
French use the word _pourris_, which is usually translated _rotten_.
But Boireau says that it must not be supposed that the grapes are
spoiled (_gâtés_) because they are _pourris_; the condition which
is sought is a sort of natural dessication effected by the heat of
the sun, which evaporates a part of the water of vegetation and
concentrates the saccharine matter, as well as the savory and aromatic
principle, and bakes the grape, as it were. If the weather remains
dry, the grapes remain for a fortnight perfectly ripe without any
deterioration of the skin, but little by little it changes from yellow
or golden to brown, loses its consistency and _rots_, or rather cracks
and gives way. It is then that dessication commences; the rays of the
sun penetrate the thin pellicle and volatilize the water of vegetation.
In order to better accomplish this result a portion of the leaves are
removed from the vine when the grapes are nearly ripe. Those grapes
only are picked which are sufficiently shriveled; if only a part of the
cluster is ripe, a few grapes are removed at a picking. The vines are
usually gone over in this manner three times. At Barsac and Sauternes
the white wines are known by three different names, indicating in their
order their strength and sweetness: The first, or sweetest, are called
_têtes_; the second, _centres_; and the third, _queues_; or head
wines, middle wines, and tail wines. If the must does not indicate more
than 12°, 13°, or 14° Baumé, the wine cannot be expected to preserve
its sweetness and mellowness in aging. If it is desired to make the
sweet head wines, having the inimitable flavor (_goút de roti_) which
they get from the great maturity of the grapes, the density must be
allowed to increase till Baumé’s instrument marks 18° to 20°. Wines
from must of 16° Baumé will preserve their sweetness for a long time,
but as they develop a large amount of alcohol, it is preferable that
they be sweeter, and that the must mark 18° to 20°. As these wines do
not develop more than 15 to 16 per cent. of alcohol by fermentation,
they will not bear transportation through tropical climates with
safety, and it is necessary to add spirit enough to raise the strength
to 18 per cent. If, however, they are carefully managed, and kept in a
cool cellar, they will remain sweet.
=Treatment of White Wines.=—During the active fermentation they should
be left in a moderately warm place of even temperature, and until the
foaming has ceased. Then, they may be stored in a cooler place if
desirable, or may be left where they are. But then the bungs should
be loosely closed with a chip or anything that will allow the escape
of gas, and the casks must be filled up every two or three days. When
the gas has ceased, they should be bunged tight, and filled up once or
twice a week, according to the rapidity of evaporation, until the first
racking. (_See below._)
=To keep Sweet.=—If it is desired that the wine should preserve a
portion of its sweetness and remain mellow, care should be taken not to
disturb it after it has commenced depositing, for thereby the sediment
and ferment will be again mingled with the wine and its fermentation
rendered more active, all its sugar may be transformed, and the wine
become dry. Fermentation may be checked at any period by sulphuring,
as is described under the proper head (see _Sulphuring and Unfermented
Must_), and so the wines may be made dry or sweet at will; but if the
sweet ones contain less than 15 per cent. of alcohol they will ferment.
By sulphuring they may be kept sweet from one vintage to another,
even if the musts have not a high degree of sugar; but they must be
constantly kept under the influence of sulphurous acid and protected
from the air. But the frequent sulphuring and racking which they must
necessarily undergo gives them an odor and a flavor of sulphur; and if
they are not watched they ferment.
The care to be given to white wines after the first racking depends
upon their character.
=In the Case of Dry Wines=, whose sugar has all been transformed, the
same attentions are to be bestowed as in the case of new red wines, and
the rules laid down are referred to. (See _Red Wine_.)
=Mellow White Wines=, that is, those which retain a portion of their
sweetness after the tumultuous fermentation, particularly if they do
not carry 15 per cent. of alcohol, require the greatest amount of
care in order to preserve their mellowness in aging; for if left to
themselves they will again enter into fermentation, and become dry.
Such wines should be preserved against all ulterior fermentations,
and should be made perfectly bright and freed from ferments, but this
should be done with as little fining or filtration as possible, which
diminishes their mellowness.
It may be well to note that the less alcohol that mellow wines have,
the more susceptible they are to fermentation, and the consequent loss
of their mellowness.
Those which have 15 per cent. and have kept their mellowness after the
first fermentation, do not lose it as readily as those of a lesser
degree. If they have less than 15 per cent. of spirit and are sweet, to
retain their sweetness, they must be completely clarified to free them
from ferments; and in some cases it is necessary not only to rack them,
but at the same time to sulphur them, and fine them with gelatine after
adding tannin.
Such wines, not having naturally terminated their fermentation, which
was arrested by sulphurous acid, reiterated rackings, the extraction of
ferments, and the lowering of the temperature—have a natural tendency
to ferment; and the arrested fermentation readily recommences if the
wine is left to itself, if vigilance is relaxed, if the temperature
increases, or if subjected to the movement of transportation.
On the contrary, in those which have acquired the largest amount of
alcohol possible by fermentation (between 15 and 16 per cent.), no new
spirit is formed at the expense of the sugar, except in case of loss of
strength by evaporation or other enfeebling cause.
=Summary of Rules= for the treatment of mellow white wines, according
to Boireau:
1. They should be stored in perfectly closed places,
in strong, well hooped casks.
2. The casks should always be kept tightly bunged,
and constantly full, by frequent and regular ullings,
with bright wine of the same quality, and having the
same temperature.
3. They should become bright, be protected against
secondary fermentations, and freed from the yeast
which they contain by rackings during the first year,
according as their lees are deposited. Fining should
not be resorted to except when they cannot be cleared
by racking at the proper time (rigorously protected
from contact with the air) into a cask sulphured with a
double square of a sulphur match.
4. When they have been three or four years in wood,
if they are not then bottled, they should be racked and
transferred to tuns where they receive the same care;
the tuns should be first tempered with wines of the
same class.
5. They must be constantly watched and frequently
tasted to assure one’s self that they do not enter into
fermentation; if they do, they must be racked at once.
=Racking.=—When they remain calm after the insensible fermentation is
terminated, whether they are old or young, they should be racked three
times each year; first, at the sprouting of the vine in the spring, in
March, before the equinox; secondly, at the flowering of the vine in
June, before the summer solstice; and thirdly, at the ripening of the
grape in September, before the autumnal equinox. (See _Racking_.)