Water .. 1 litre.
Mix the different wines together ; add the alcohol and the infusion of walnuts ; dissolve the sngar in the water, and boil till the solution becomes of a golden colour ; add it to the mixture, with a little of the infusion of cloves.
Grenaehe.—Collioure (dry) .. 80 litres.
Syrup of raisins .. 12 „ Infuaion of walnuts .. 1 „ Infusion of hitter almonds .. • • • • 1 o Alcohol (85°) .. 5 „ Burnt sugar (yellow) .. .. 500 gm. Proceed as for Cyprus.
Laerymaa Christi.—Bagnols (old) .. .. 85 litres.
Gum kino .. 50 grrn.
Infusion of walnuts 1 litre.
Syrup .of raisins .. 6 „ Alcohol (85°) .. 8 „ Dissolve the gtun kino in the alcohol; mix the whole together, and allow to stand.
Madeira.—Pieardan (dry) .. 60 litres.
Tavel (old and strong) .. .. 25 „ Infusion of walnuts .. .. • . • • • • 2 77 Infusion of bitter almonds .. .. 2 „ Sugar eandy „ 1.5 kilos.
Brandy (58°) .. 10 litres. Melt the sugar candy in a portion of the via° and mix the whole together.
Malaga.—Bagnols (old) .. .. 80 litres.
Syrup of raisins .. 10 „ Infusion of walnuts .. .. 2 „ Alcohol (85°) .. .. 8 „ Proceed as for Madeira.
Port.—Rousillon (old) .. .. 70 litres.
Old Ratafia .. 25 „ Alcohol (85°) .. .. 5 „ Mix thoroughly, and set aside for two months.
Sherry.—Add to the substances indicated for Madeira, from 1 to 2 litres of an infusion of white raspberries.
Tokay.—Bagnols (very old) .. 80 litres.
Syrup of raisins .. .. 10 „ Dried elder flowers .. 300 grm.
Infusion of white raspberries .. 2 kilos.
Infusion of walnuts .. 1 „ Alcohol (85°) .. .. 6 litres.
Dissolve the syrup in a little warm water ; infuse the elder flowers in it until eold ; pour the wine upon it, and agitate the whole briskly.
The two roost important fruity wines, viz. port and sherry, are adulterated to an enormous extent. In Portugal the juice of elderberries is largely added to port in order to heighten its colour, and extract of rhatany for the purpose of improving the colour and imparting an astringence to the wine. In England, beetroot, Brazil wood, the juices of elderberries and whortle berries, the pressed core of elder-wioe, extract of logwood, &e,, are commonly added to port to give it a fietitious colour ; and oak sawdust, alum, and extract of rhatany to give it an astringent taste.
A mixture of elder-juice, grape-juico, brown sugar, and crude brandy, called "jerupiga," is the commonest adulterant of port, both in this country and in Portugal ; its addition to the wine in bond is permitted by the Custom-house authorities.
A mixture commonly sold for sherry consists of Cape wine, to which a nutty flavour is imparted by means of bitter ahnonds, and a fulness by the addition of honey, and rendered more alcoholic by a little plain spirit or pale biandy ; this mixture is subjected to an insensible fermentation, and is then sold as good sherry. Sherry is coloured by means of concentrated must, burnt sugar, or spirit colouring.
All the wines which have been considered above are the pure, genuine wines of the grape. Large quantities of imitation wine are manufactured, however, both in this ezuntry and in France, and it is now bought and sold to such an extent among the poorer classes that it is desirable to describe here the methods by which this inferior wine is made. Different recipes in common use for its preparation are therefore given in full.
1. To make 150 litres, take 50 litres of wine of Rousillon, Narbonne, or St. Gilles, of three years of age, and 100 litres of the following mixture :— Cold river water .. 85 litres. Tartaric acid .. 300 grm.
Common brandy .. .. 20 „ Powdered iris .. .. 15 to 20 „ Good vinegar .. 1 „ Powdered wood charcoal .. .. 500 „ Place in a barrel the water, vinegar, and brandy ; dissolve the tartaric acid in a little of the mixture, and stir up the charcoal in it, returning the whole to the barrel and mixing well together ; beat up the whites of two eggs in a little wetter and add them to the mixture with constant atirring. In twelve holm' time the liquid will be clear, when it is dmwn off and mixed with the wine ; in a month or two the liquor is fit for consumption, and possesses the flavour, strength, and colour of a good red wine.