1. Sweet Wines; which contain the greatest proportion of extractive and saccharine matter, and generally the least ardent spirit, though this is often rather disguised than absent; as in these wines a proportion of sugar has remained unchanged during the process of vinification, they must be considered as the results of an imperfect fermentation, and are in fact mixtures of wine and sugar; accordingly, whatever arrests the progress of fermentation, must have a tendency to produce a sweet wine; thus boiling the must or drying the fruit will, by partially separating the natural leaven and dissipating the water, occasion such a result as is exemplified by the manufacture of the wines of Cyprus, the vino cotto of the Italians and the vinum coctum of the ancients, by that of Frontignac, the rich and luscious wines of Canary, the celebrated Tokay, Vino Tinto (Tent of Hungary) the Italian Montefiascone, the Persian Schiras, the Malmsey wines of Candia, Chio, Lesbos, and Tenedos, and those of the other islands of the Archipelago. The wines of the ancients, as Chaptal observes, were so concentrated by boiling, that they rather deserve the name of extracts or syrups, than that of wines; they, must have been very sweet, and but little fermented; apparently to remedy this, they were kept for a great length of time; according to Aristotle and Galen, seven years was the shortest period necessary for keeping wine before it was fit to drink, but wines of a century old were not uncommon at the tables of the luxurious citizens of ancient Rome, and Horace boasts of his drinking Falernian, born as it were with him, or which reckoned its age from the same consuls.[[703]]
2. Sparkling or Effervescing Wines, as Champagne, are indebted for their characteristic properties to the presence of carbonic acid; they rapidly intoxicate, in consequence of the alcohol, which is suspended in, or combined with the gas, being thus applied in a sudden and very divided state to a large extent of nervous surface; for the same reason, their effects are as transitory as they are sudden.[[704]]
3. Dry and Light. These are exemplified by the more esteemed German wines, as Hock, Rhenish, Mayne, Moselle, Necker, and Elsass, and those highly flavoured wines, Burgundy, Claret, Hermitage, &c. They contain a very inconsiderable degree of ardent spirit, and combine with it the effect of an acid.
4. Dry and Strong, as Madeira, Port, Sherry, &c. The name Sec, corruptly written Sack, signifies dry; the Sec wine prepared at Xeres[[705]] in Spain, is called according to our orthography, Sherris, or Sherry. In the manufacture of Sherry, Lime[[706]] is added to the grapes, a circumstance, observes Dr. Macculloch, apparently conducive to its well known dry quality, and which probably acts by neutralizing a portion of malic or tartaric acid.
By the adulteration and medication of wines, three principal objects are attempted, viz. 1. To give them strength, which is effected by adding any ardent spirit; but the wine is slowly decomposed by it. 2. To perfect or change their colour. It is very usual to change white wines, when they have grown brown or rough, into red wines, by means of sloes, or other colouring matter. 3. To lessen, or remove their acidity. It is well known that lead in different forms has frequently been employed for this purpose; the practice, however, is attended with most dangerous consequences; but which Dr. Macculloch is inclined to believe has been over-rated, since the compounds which this metal forms with the tartaric and malic acids are insoluble; but against this argument, the decisive results of experience may be opposed, and Fourcroy conceived that by the addition of Vinegar, a soluble triple salt, an aceto-tartrate of lead, was produced. The fraud may be easily detected by the test[[707]] invented by Dr. Hahnemann. The ancients, it appears, were acquainted with this property in lead, for according to Pliny, the Greeks and Romans improved the quality of their wines by immersing a plate of lead in them.[[708]] Wine, as a pharmaceutical agent, has been employed to extract several of the principles of vegetables, and to dissolve certain mineral bodies: as a solvent, however, it is liable to many serious objections, as inequality of strength, and uncertainty of composition; thus sound and perfectly fermented dry wine, as Sherry, is frequently unable to dissolve iron, while tartarized antimony is instantly decomposed by every other. As a menstruum, to obtain an extract, it is quite inadmissible on account of the residuum which it leaves by evaporation. From such considerations the London College have at length substituted a weak spirit, for the wine formerly employed, although the term “Vinum” is still retained in the Pharmacopœia, to obviate those embarrassments which must ever attend a change of name, with a corresponding change of properties. The Committee were fully prepared to expect the captious objections which are urged against this measure, but as the name is chemically and medicinally correct, the etymologist may be fairly allowed to enjoy his assumed triumph without molestation.
Vinum Aloes. L.E.D. This solution contains all the virtues of the Aloes, and is more agreeable than the tincture. It is a warm stomachic in doses of fʒj to fʒij, and a stimulating purgative when given from f℥j to f℥ij.
By referring to the Pharmacopœia, it will be perceived that alcoholic menstrua of different strengths, have been employed for the different preparations. The proportions were deduced from careful experiments, and are adapted to the composition of the substances which the spirit is intended to dissolve: e. g.
| Proof Spirit. | Water. | |
|---|---|---|
| Vinum Aloes | 1 part | 1. |
| —— Antimonii Tartariz: | 1 ditto[[709]] | 1. |
| —— Colchici | 1 ditto | 2. |
| —— Ferri | 1 ditto | 1½. |
| —— Ipecacuanhæ | 1 ditto | 1⅔. |
| —— Opii | 1 ditto | 1⅔. |
| —— Veratri | 1 ditto | 1½. |
VINUM ANTIMONII TARTARIZATI. L.
Liquor Antimonii Tartarizati. P.L. 1809.