The Wine Press and the Cellar: A Manual for the Wine-Maker and the Cellar-Man

by Emmet H. Rixford

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.