The method of fermentation also influences more or less the richness of the color. Those wines, in the fermentation of which the pomace is kept constantly immersed in the liquid, dissolve out more coloring matter than those fermented in open vats in which the crust is raised above the surface of the must.
Some kinds of grapes naturally develop more color than others.
How Guarded Against.—It is therefore obvious, that the lack of color may be guarded against by gathering the grapes when they are just ripe, planting the proper varieties, and keeping the pomace submerged during fermentation, stirring it up, if necessary.
The Treatment should be such as to avoid as much as possible the precipitation of the coloring matter. They should, therefore, be fined as little as possible, and gelatine should be carefully avoided. If they must be fined, use the whites of eggs and in the quantity mentioned for weak wines—10 to 100 gallons.
Of course, their color may be increased by mixing them with darker colored wines, but in order not to affect their natural flavor, they should be mixed only with wines of the same nature and of the same growth.
It is not to be supposed that any one will resort to artificial coloring of any kind.
Dull, Bluish, Lead-colored Wine, and Flavor of the Lees—Causes.—Certain wines remain turbid, and preserve a dull, leaden color, even after insensible fermentation. This state may be due to several causes. Oftentimes young wines remain turbid because, for want of racking at proper times, and for want of storing in proper places, secondary fermentation has set in, which has stirred up the lees which had been deposited at the bottom of the cask. This also takes place when new wines are moved before racking.
Treatment.—In these cases, put them into a cellar of a constant temperature, leave them quiet for a couple of weeks, and see if they settle naturally. If not, clarify them by using the finings appropriate to their nature.
If they are turbid on account of an unseasonable fermentation, the first thing to do is to stop the working by racking, sulphuring, etc. When, in spite of all the cares that have been bestowed upon them, they still remain dull and difficult to clarify, while undergoing no fermentation, the cause must be sought in the want of tannin or alcohol.
If the difficulty is due simply to lack of spirit, the treatment consists in adding two or three quarts of strong alcohol to each 100 gallons, mixing with the wine a fifth or a tenth of a good-bodied wine of like natural flavor, and then by fining it with eggs as mentioned for weak wines.