The practice of mixing wines not only improves and assists in preserving them, but also renders them capable of being transported for great distances without fear of injury, whieh could not possibly have been the case with the unmixed wines.
The well-known harshness of some Bordeaux wines is frequently corrected by adding Hermi tage, and colouring with those of Cahors, Gard, and Herault ; these mixtures can only be made when the wine is new, in order that, after mixing, they may undergo an insensible fermentation, by which the added wines are closely united with the Bordeaux ; the result is a fine wine commonly sold ss Mecioe.
It will thus be seen that the wines to be used for mixing, and their proportions, vary extremely, and must be adapted to the different tastes of different consumers. The taste of the majority of Englishmen is quite different from that of the Russians, and that of the Russians is different again from that of the Germans ; and therefore the wine-dealer is obliged, in order to satisfy all demands, to make a profound study of this question of mixtures. He has also, by various means, to increase the strength of his wines, especially if they aro destined for the English market ; this he frequently effects by adding alcohol, in proportions of 2 to 5 litres to each cask of wine, or by provoking a second fermentation in it by adding unfermented roust, in close vats.
In the South of France, the wines chiefly used for mixing are those of Alicante, Bernicarlos, Hermitage, Reuellion, Gaillac, and others. In Burgundy, when the vintage has been a mall one, the deficit is made up by adding equal portions of the wines of Tavel, Cher, Roughen, or Narbonne, and then a sufficient quantity of water to bring the mixture to the regular alcoholic strength. These wines, when brought together, speedily undergo a continuation of the fermenting process, which renders them absolutely homogeneous, and produces a wine which cannot be distinguished from the finest Bordeaux. For a wine of the first quality, the proportions of the mixture are : Wine of Cher .. 1 pipe.
Marseilles .. 1 Bordeaux (white) .. 1 Rousillon .. 10 gals.
For D. wine of the second quality : Wine of Touraine 1 pipe.
Rousillon .. 10 gals.
And for an ordinary wine : Wine of Rousillon 1 pipe.
Burgundy .. .. 30 gals.
River or rain water .. 1 pipe.
Alcohol .. 5 quarts.
Good vinegar .. 1 quart.
Tartaric acid .. .. 500 grm.
Tannin .. .. . 59 When the wine is of too deep a colour, a dry, white wine may be substituted for the Burgundy. It is advisable to allow the mixture to stand for a month or more.
It is often the practice to send mixed wines into the market as soon as they are made; but this is a great mistake, since the elements of the mixture have not had time to become properly mixed and to form a homogeneous whole. A month is generally sufficient t,o effect this, but in the ease of some wines a much longer time is requisite ; others, indeed, never mix at all, the particular taste of each single wine is distinguishable after a considerable lapse of time.
When a wine possesses certain characterigics which render it of superb quality, it ought never to be mixed with other and inferior wines, as is too frequently the ease. An old wine, unless it is deteriorating snd lacks freshness, ought not to be mixed with wine of less than two years of age, at the risk of losing both bouquet and colour. No wine which has undergone alteration or deteriora tion of any kind should ever be used for mixing, or the disease will inevitably spread until the whole mixture is ruined. The improvement of a wine is commonly effected in one of two ways : either by natural means, such ae mixing it with one or more different wines ; or by an artificial method, much as imparting to the wine itself, or to the rnixture, those particular prinoiples which are lacking. Examples of the first method are afforded by mixtures of the wines of Touraine and Cher, made for the purpose of improving the former ; by mixtures of different brands of Burgundy ; by mixtures of strong and weak wines, or of - wine which is becoming enfeebled by age with another of the same brand but some years younger, &c., &c. By the second method, wines lacking sweetness are improved by the addition of syrup ; wines which are too sweet, by the addition of a little solution of tartaric aoid ; those wanting in bouquet, by affording to them the particular bouquet by which they are characterized ; and those which have none at all, by the addition of any which may he desired. By these and various other methods, and with the exercise of a good deal of judgment and experience, the wine merchant is able to remove or cover any defect to which a wine is liable.