The differences between Leistenwein and Steinwein are still more easily accounted for. The Leiste is on the left side of the river Main. the Stein on the right, the Stein being close to the river. The soil of both is argillaceous with calcareous portions, especially fragments of lime, and this is the soil commonly met with in Wurtcmberg and in all Franconia. Why these two wines should differ from all others of the district is unintelligible; but the difference between themselves is owing to the grapes. The vineyards of the Leiste (that is, the best portion, flute Leide,) are planted in a great measure with the Meeting and Traminer (V :prole/Isis, B. u. M., Heft xii., t. 72), with about a third of the Eliding grape (V. r. u16aclla, B. and M., Heft iii., t. 14); and in the other vineyards is the white Traminer, called franken, by some autedel I V. r. amiesa, B. u. M., Heft li., t. 9), that is, both white and black. Besides these there occurs in considerable proportion the Hermitage grape, brought from France, which here succeeds well, retaining its fine aroma, though Its natural site is granitic. The Eeleetion of the grapes, when ripe, is attended to with extraordinary care. (13ronner, vi., p. 82.) The predominant grape of the Stein vine yard is the Elbling, mixed with a few of the Riesling and other sorts. The Leistenwein is regarded as the second finest wine of the south of Germany. The Steiuwein must not be confounded with the Stein berger wine of the Rhine. The Montillado of Spain is the produce of a white soil, containing 70 per cent. of earls-mate of lime, with alumina, silica, and a little magnesia, while the Manzanilla is the produce of the terrains rouges et sablonneux. Yet the wines do not greatly differ in taste or flavour. More importance is attached to the Boll than it deserves; its physical properties are of more importance than its chemical. Chaptal was clearly of this opinion, for he maintained that, provided it is porous, free, and light, its component parts are of little consequence. Perhaps calcareous is on the whole the best, simply because it readily imbibes the rails, and allows a clear atmosphere to surround the vines. Even Mr. Busby (see his Visit to the Principal Vineyards of France and Spain, p. 131), who so strenuously maintains the superiority of a calcareous soli, when remarking on the reputation and limited extent of some of the first-rate vineyards, repudiates the idea of the soil being the cause. " It all those districts which produce wines of high reputation, some few individuals have seen the advantage of selecting a particular variety of grape, and of managing its culture so as to bring It to the highest state of perfection of which it Is capable. The same care has been extended to the making and sub sequent management of their wine, by seizing the most favourable moment for the vintage—by the rapidity with which the grapes are gathered and pressed, so that the whole contents of each vat may be in exactly the same state, and a simultaneous and equal fermentation be secured throughout—by exercising equal discrimination and caro in the time and manner of drawing off the wine, and In its subsequent treatment in the vats or casks where It is kept; end lastly, by net selling the wino till it should have acquired all the perfection which it could acquire from age, and by selling, as the produce of their own vineyards, only such vintages as were calculated to acquire or maintain its celebrity. By these means have the viceyaribi of a few individuals acquired a reputation which has enabled the proprietors to command almost their own prices for their wines; and It was evidently the interest of such persons that the excellence of their wines should be imputed to a peculiarity in the soil, rather than to a system of manage ment which others might imitate" (p. 133). But some experienced wine-factors, not proprietors of vineyards, hold a different opinion.
It is greatly to be wished that the truth of this important statement were impressed on all persons having the charge of vineyards, as it is certain that by attention to these and other circumstances quite within their control, the quantity of good wine might be much Increased and Its price lessened. Brunner distinctly states that in the Bergstrame near Heidelberg, by obstinate adherence to old and Indo lent practices, the produce is annually one-third less than it might be (Heft vil., p. 20).
Where some peculiar strong-smelling substance exists in the soil, an odour is communicated to the wine which renders it unpleasant. This is the case when stinkatcin (a native variety of subcarbonate of lime, called pierce puante) is present. The vine-growers of France and Portugal have so strong an aversion to manuring the vines, from the notion that it deteriorates the flavour of the wine, that in the latter country, at least in the port-Yielding district of the Alto Douro, the use of manure is forbidden by law. This seems to be a prejudice, for the German cultivators manure the vines very freely, and no wines are more esteemed for bouquet than those of the Rhine; and Bronner justifies the practice (Heft iii. 44), not only with fresh cow-dung. which is used at Johannisberg, brit with fragments of woollen cloth pre viously steeped in liquid manure and dried, which is found greatly to augment the produce. Professor Ran bears testimony to its utility. The practice is adopted oftener with the red than white grapes ; the former every third or fourth year, the latter only every tenth. Even the proprietors of the vineyards near Bordeaux. which produce the highly-prized clarets, employ manure "once every four or five years." (Paguierre, Wines of Bordeaux,' p. 23.) But perhaps the best manure for vines is the cuttings of the vines themselves when pruned, as recommended in Liebig's Chemistry in its application to Agriculture; 2nd edit., p. 250 :—" The vines are pruned lb the end of July or beginning of August, whilst still fresh and moist. If they are then cut into small pieces and mixed with the earth, they undergo putre faction so completely, that at the end of four weeks not the smallest trace of them can be found." These restore to the soil the alkalies abstracted by the grapes, which are so necessary for the perfection of this fruit. Probably ferns, so rich in alkalies, would answer well.
But the same vines will yield a wine having very different qualities, at least as to flavour and perfume, in different seasons. " These qualities are, in truth, of so delicate and inconstant a nature, that they may be said to vary from year to year ; there being perhaps no two vintages, though collected from the same spot and managed in the same mantier, that will be found completely identical in flavour and perfume." (Henderson's History of Ancient and Modern Wines,' p. 135.) The correctness of this statement is proved by the varying character of the vintages in different years. It rarely happens that the good Port years coincide with the good Claret years, as a heat which ripens well the grapes in the comparatively cold climate of Medec scorches the grapes in the Alto Deere, and rice versd. The year 1811, commonly called the Comet year, was remarkable for the excellence of the vintage in almost all the wine-yielding countries of Europe.
The subject of the cultivation of the grape has been treated under VINEYARri we proceed, therefore, to speak of the manufacture of wine. The stage at which the grape is fit for gathering depends upon the kind of wine intended to be made. When a brisk wine is wished, such as Champagne, the grapes are gathered before they are fully ripe ; and they may be collected even in foggy weather, or before the dew is dissipated from the vines; though for all other kinds dry clear weather is proper. (Henderson, p. 15.) This author (in general so accurate) states that "if the object be to obtain a dry full-flavoured wine, the grapes should ho gathered as soon as they have acquired their proper maturity, and before they begin to shrink or wither on the stalk." But in the case of the most esteemed German wines, which are the driest of all, the gathering of the grape is postponed as late as possible, by which many free acids are got rid of, and the wine at a much earlier period of keeping is so soft and delicate, that the new wines are pre ferred to the extremely old wines, which were in great request previous to the adoption of the plan of late gathering. The advantage of this was first accidentally discovered at Johannisberg in 1790; but it was so long opposed that its establishment as a practice dates only from 1822. (Brunner, Heft iii., pp. 149-150.) But frost, in November, 1858, destroyed to some extent the vintage of 1858. Thus at Johannisberg the vintage of 1811 was very late ; that of 1831 did not commence till the 17th October, nor did it conclude till the 5th November : and in 1834 the grapes were all hanging on the vines, but perfectly sound, so late as November. Yet these are among the most renowned vintages of the present century. In the warmer parts of the south of Spain and of France, and also at Tokay, where vine de liqueurs are made, the grapes are allowed to remain very long on the vines; the stalks are twisted, so as to prevent the influx of any recent sap ; the thinner or watery portion evaporates, and the dry or shrivelled grape almost resembles a raisin, and contains much sugar. On the IthOne a small quantity of sweet Wine is made from the ripest grapes, which are hung up on hurdles, Or spread on straw, for six or eight weeks, or until they become half dried. The liquor obtained from them, from the mode of preparation, receives the name of straw trine (tin paille). In some cases the must is boiled ; this is often done with the sherries of Spain : when the boiling is carried far, a very sweet luscious wine is produced, such as the wine of Cyprus, the eine mite of the Italians (Minim coctum of the ancients), the original Malmseys of Candle, and the other rich wines of the Grecian archi pelago. The colour of wine is not always dependent on the colour of the grape from which it is prepared. Champagne is the produce of a red grape : red and white grapes are used indiscriminately for Sherry; but white Port is made only from a white grape. The stalks promote the fermentation, and if they, as well as the hulls or skins, are with drawn before the fermentation has proceeded far, as it is not till some alcohol is generated that the colouring principle is dissolved, those even of red grapes neither communicate colour nor taste to the wine. They are early withdrawn from the delicate red wines of Bordeaux ; but — — retained longer in the red wines of Portugal; hence the greater austerity and astringency of the latter. The wine of Others, prepared from a grape called A urerrois, or pied de perdn.r, yields a Willa almost black, the colour being deepened by an admixture of a preparation called owe, which is merely a portion of the must of this grape, boiled for a few minutes with the strongest spirit of wine, in the proportion of one part of spirit to four of must, added to it. This extracts the colouring principle most thoroughly; and communicates not only to the wine of Cahora, but also to many of the Bordeaux wines, to which raugome is frequently added, a deep hue. "The more this preparation is required and added, the lees the wine will bear keeping." (Paguierre, p. 112.) The wines of the 3.1oaelle may be distinguished from those of the Rhine by having a greenish colour, while the latter have a yellowish colour. At Cotnar, in Moldavia, a wine is prepared which is green, and which becomes deeper by time ; while the strength increases so much, that if the wine he kept in a deep and well-vaulted cellar, in three or four years it almost resembles brandy, but without so readily affecting the head. " On exposing red wines in bottles to the action of the sun's rays the colouring-matter separates in large flakes, without altering the flavour of the wine." (Henderson.) Sulphurous acid ought not to be used for fuming the casks into which red wino is to be put, as it destroys their colour. Spirit of wine should be used to rinse such caaka. The colour of wine is judged of by placing some of It In a small silver tray or saucer (called In Portuguese lambda deira) slightly raised in the centre ; the colour it exhibits as It prISSOS over the convex centre when agitated, is that which guides the broker.