It is seldom absolutely necessary to impart fictitious colours to wines, but :t is the custom to do so in order to gratify the eye of the consumer ; this is especially the case in seasons when the grape has not arrived at full maturity, and the wine is, consequently, of a poor colour. Many colouring preparations are made for this purpose from different Indian and Brazilian woods, and from the seeds and berries of t,he elder-tree, privet, danewort, whortleberry and other plants. By the use of such preparations any desired shade of colour may be easily obtained. A mueh better means of imparting colour will, however, be found in the employment of red hollyhock flowers, dried and picked, and steeped in either red or white wine. This preparation, made when required or a few days previously, will serve to give a white wine any desired shade of red ; and if kept for some time, it becomes capable of imparting a very fine brownish-red tinge. Its special advantage is that it cannot be detected in wine by any process whatever. By fermenting mulberries, a preparation may be made, having not only a mag,nificent colour, but a very fine perfume also; by mixing it with brandy, a colouring medium is obtained which is quite equal to the preceding, and of a far superior aroma. These substances, and some others, ha*e been employed in France for colouring wines with the most complete success.
The method of making the first-mentioned colouring preparation, viz. that from the hollyhoek, is as follows :—To operate on a large scale, s. cask is raised slightly from the ground on a wooden stand ; tlais cask has a trap-door in its bottom, for the introduetion and withdrawal of the flowers, and also a perforated false bottom, placed about 4 in. from the real bottom, and a stop-cock midway between the two. It is then filled to nine-tenths of its capacity with dried and carefully picked leaves of the red hollyhock flowers, and wine poured upon them until the cask is quite full, when it is covered over. After a period of eight days or more, the wine is drawn off into anothez cask and the flowers allowed to drain before beiog covered with wine afresh; the second infusion is added to the first. A little tartaric acid is added to the tincture in order to brighten the colour, and also a quantity of alcohol, after which the whole is allowed to age. The flowers may be infused once or twice more, and should finally be well pressed to extract the remaining drops of wine.
Three hundred grammes of the leaves are sufficient to impart to 100 litres of white wine, a fietitious colour resembling that of the wines of Narbonne. In order to know what quantity of the flowers is necessary to heighten the colour of a light wine to the required degree, a litre of the wine is taken and such a quantity of the tincture is added to it as is necessary to produee that colour, the quantity being carefully noted. The correct proportion required to colour 100 litres, or any other
quantity, ean then be readily deduced.
The method generally employed to extract the colouring matter from the berries of the elder tree, privet, danewort, whortleberry, or mulberries, eonsists in bruising the fruit and subjecting it to fermentation, with the addition of a little water if necessary. Or the fruit may be infused simply in alcohol, at from 65° to 85° ; sueh infusions have a finer aroma than the products of fermentation, and they are more readily preserved. A little solution of tartarie acid may be added to them with advantage about once every month.
Fruity or liqueur wines contain less water and more sugar and alcohol than the dry wines, and have also a stronger aroma. They are generally of a somewhat syrupy consistence. Owing to their large proportions of alcohol and sugar, they have the property of keeping for many years without undergoing sensible change. The hest known and most esteemed of these wines are those of Alicante, Grenache, Cyprus, Lacrymaa Christi, Madeira, Malaga, Port, Sherry, and Tokay. The liqueur wines of commerce are, however, almost always imitations, made at Cette or Mont pelier. They are made by mixing different wines with aloohol and sugar, and some aromatie infusion, in such proportions as agree with the character of the wine imitated. These aromatic substances are very numerous ; those most frequently employed are infusions of raspberries, green walnuts, cloves, iris, and bitter almonds; reeipes for these are given below :— Infusion of raspberries.—Alcohol (85°). An equal quantity of ripe and carefullipioked raspberries. Infusion of green walnuts.—Aleohol (85°) .. 100 kilos.
Green walnuts .. 100 „ Infusion of eloves•—Aleohol (58°) 1 litres.
Bruised eloves .. 500 grm.
Infusion of iris.—Alcohol (85°) .. 4 litres.
Grated iris (Provence) .. .. 500 grm.
Infusion of bitter almouds.—Shells of bitter almonds .. 20 kilos.
Alcohol (58°) .. .. 40 litres.
The shells should be roasted like eoffee berries, and placed in the spirit while hot.
These infusions ought to be made a month or two before they are required for use. The recipes of some favourite liqueur wines are as follows :— Alicante.—Wine of Bagnols 80 litres.
Alcohol (85°) .. 9 ., Syrup of raisins .. .. • . • . • • 10 .. 5 „ Mix well together, and add a little of the infusion of iiis.
Cyprus.—Museatel (very old) .. .. 25 litres.
White wine (dry and alcoholic) .. 64 „ Alcohol (85°) .. • • • • • • • • 5 „ Infusion of walnuts .. .. • • • • • • 1 ,1 White sugar .. .. 2 kilos.