The first run from the press is of course the best. The second and third pressings are inferior and seldom mixed with the other wine; the last run is used for making brandy or vinegar.
Utilization of the By-Products.— From the husks and Ices arc obtained the following prod ucts: "piquettes," brandies and tartar. Second wines are produced by adding water to half the amount of the wine already drawn off, suffi cient sugar to give from 6 to 7 per cent of alcohol and tartaric and tannin when acidity is needed. The piquettes are thin, sour wines obtained by adding pure water to the marc, be fore or after pressing; the cask is filled and closed. In course of time a wine having from 3 to 4 per cent of alcohol is produced, but it will not keep long. This is the cheap but health ful drink so largely consumed by the peasants and working people in France.
Brandies.—They are obtained either by dis tilling the marc direct or by the distillation of a piquette wash. The best kind of brandy of the Cognac type is produced by distillation of a sound, clean wine. This process of distillation requires improved stills and special treatment. The °wash* for brandy spirits is obtained by running water into a tank filled with the mare or pomace; the overflow is allowed to run into a second tank containing pomace, and the over flow from this tank passes into a third tank filled with p,,mace. It is seldom profitable to distil the wash unless it contains from 5 to 7 per cent alcohol.
Tartar.— This is extract from the lees, or deposit, d as a crust in the vats. It is obtained b. catis:r.).: a mixture of the mare and water to for an hour or so; when the boiling liquid is drawn and cooled the tartar erystalli7es eu• From the crude product is manufactured ",!, .:11 of tartar' and tartaric acid Manufacture of White Wine.—Tbc making elf white wine differs from that of red wine principally in the matter of not having fer mentation of the must take place in contact with the skin and solid parts of the grape Two processes are to be taken into account: (I) the making of white wine from white grapes, and (2) the making of white wine from red or dark-colored grapes. The first-named
process is of course the easiest one. Briefly stated, it consists in crushing the grapes, drain ing them, putting the drained marc in the press and then leaving the juice from both of the operations to ferment. The main thing is to get the liquid free from impurities, as white wine should be perfectly clear. The usual method is to allow the must to settle and the suspended impurities to be deposited. The liquid must, therefore, be kept perfectly still for the required time; in other words, it is kept from starting into fermentation. This is accomplished by the process called "sulphuring.° The effect of applying sulphurous acid to the must is to paralyze the action of the ferments or yeasts.
After the must has become clear, it is sepa rated from the deposit and run into the vat to undergo fermentation. During this process the must should be aerated as much as possible in order to drive off all odor of the sulphurous acid, as well as to encourage the activity of the yeast. The fermentation starts slowly and is always less vigorous than in use of red wines. 1\hen the fermentation is over, the white wine sl.ould be racked and put in casks which have been lightly sulphured and allowed to remain until perfectly cleared.
The manufacture of white wine from red or dark-colored grapes is attended with much more difficulty and labor than in the process of using white grapes. Without going into de tails, the main points to be observed are: (1) to avoid breaking the skins of the grapes and thus start fermentation before crushing; (2) to proceed rapidly with the work of crush ing and pressing; (3) to crush the grapes so as not to free the coloring matter in the skins; (4) to suppress all traces of coloring matter in the must and separate the suspended impuri ties by the method above described. It is the opinion of expert wine-makers that in order to obtain the best results, white wine should be made from both white and red grapes.