qualities, in a greater or less degree; but there are wines produced in cold and wet countries, so weak and insipid, that their flatness is rather agreeably relieved by the slight asperity derived from the stalk, and it has been found to give durability to wines which, without it, would speedily degenerate into ropiness. This was found to be the case in the Orleanois; when, in consequence of the published opinions of writers on this subject, they commenced the egrappage; but, in consequence of finding that the wine made without the stalk sooner altered, they returned to their old practice. It has also been ascertained by experience, that the fermentation proceeds with more force and regularity, when the stalks are left in the must; and, in this point of view, they may be considered as an advantageous ferment, in all cases where there is reason to fear a slow or incomplete fermentation.
In the neighbourhood of Bordeaux, all the red grapes, which produce the best wine, are deprived of a portion of their stalks, and this portion is determined by the degree of maturity they have reached. When the fruit is not perfectly ripe, or has been touched by the frost before the vintage, they deprive it of a greater proportion, while, when it is very ripe, they leave a greater quantity, to facilitate the fermentation, and prevent the too Digitized by Google
