The Bisulphite of Lime has been used to prevent fermentation in wine and cider, but it does not always give satisfactory results, and the salt is difficult to keep, and the use for wine, at least, has generally been abandoned. In the experiments of Proust, given by Maumené, the smallest quantity used was 15 grammes to 100 kilogrammes of must, or about one-half ounce to 23 gallons.
Salicylic Acid has been much recommended within the past few years, but like everything else, it affects the flavor, if sufficient is used to prevent fermentation. The quantity necessary depends upon the amount of alcohol, ferments, etc., contained in the wine. Prof. Neubauer, quoted by H. Endemann in American Chemist, says that wine which is yet fermenting should not receive any salicylic acid, since too large quantities of the substance are required for effective use, but that it may be used in wine when made to prevent after-fermentation; that it will prevent disease, but will not cure wine when diseased. Though infallible rules as to quantity cannot be given, experiments should be made with from .02 to .06 gramme per litre, or say from 1.165 to 3.5 grains per gallon. A solution of 2 grammes (30.864 grains) of salicylic acid to 100 c.c. (3.38 fluid ounces) of alcohol of 80° is employed; 1 c.c. = 0.02 grammes; 3 c.c. = 0.06 grammes; 61.44 minims or a little more than one fluidram = 1.165 grains, and 3.7 fluidrams = 3.5 grains. Salicylic acid being but sparingly soluble in water, it is preferable to dissolve in strong alcohol, and these are convenient proportions.
It is said that 100 grammes (3½ Ap. ounces) will stop the fermentation of 1000 litres (about 264 gals.) of must, when nearly completed; 800 grammes are necessary when in active fermentation; and 400 will preserve the wine when made.
But now the intelligence comes that salicylic acid has an injurious effect upon the teeth and bones, it having an affinity for calcareous salts (Boston Journal of Chemistry, Vol. XI, 143), and the French Minister of Agriculture and Commerce, on the report of the Committee of Public Hygiene, recommends that the sale of articles of food adulterated with it be prohibited as injurious to the public health. (Ib. Vol. XV., 45.)
CHAPTER X.
AGING—EFFECTS OF
VARIOUS INFLUENCES.
General Considerations.—Wines, from the time of their first fermentation down to the time of their degeneration and decay, are constantly undergoing change. Until they have acquired a certain age, varying in each case with the quality and nature of the liquid, they do not possess those qualities which make them an agreeable, healthful beverage. The care to be bestowed upon them in their general treatment not only includes what is necessary for their preservation, but also what is necessary to age them by developing in them all the good qualities of which they are susceptible, and the means of preventing and remedying their defects and diseases.
A New Wine, when first fermented, is quite different from one even a few months old, in respect to color, flavor, and aroma. But the quality which it may acquire depends upon the proportion of different substances which it contains. Some wines, poor in alcohol and deficient in tannin, will develop their best qualities and begin to degenerate very soon after fermentation. Such should be consumed as soon as their insensible fermentation is completed; it is useless to attempt to age them; while those which are stout, firm and full-bodied must be kept several years to be completely developed.
The Bouquet and Distinctive Flavor of a wine, according to Mr. Boireau, generally, are not perfectly developed until defecation is complete—that is to say, until, after several months’ repose under proper conditions, they have ceased to deposit insoluble matters, and no longer mineral and vegetable salts, ferments, and coloring matter are precipitated.
Old Wine, then, differs from a new wine of the same origin by its color, its aroma, and flavor, and the difference is due to several causes.
The Color of old red wine is less dark on account of the precipitation of a part of the coloring matter, which, rendered insoluble by the formation of different combinations, has been carried down with the lees. The red color becomes tawny in time.