Page:A Treatise on the Culture of the Vine and, and the Art of Making Wine.pdf/174

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great sweetness of the wine. White grapes are not deprived of their stalks, when submitted to fermentation.

Thus, though the stalks can neither add to the spirituosity of the wine nor its perfume, because they are destitute of saccharine matter, and aroma, their slight asperity may advantageously correct the insipidity of some wines; and, by facilitating fermentation, they concur towards a more complete decomposition of the must, and to the production of a greater quantity of alcohol.

Before quitting this part of the subject, wines may be considered in two points of view, viz, whether intended for drinking, or for distillation; qualities are required in the former, which are superfluous in the latter. Thus, in making wines for distillation, the object is, to procure the greatest possible quantity of alcohol, without regard to other qualities; while, in the latter, the taste and flavour of the wine, are equally objects of request. In the former case, the must may be fermented with all the stalks; in the latter case, it is a consideration of the first importance, how far the quantity of stalks, fermented in the must, will affect the wine, with regard to its taste and perfume, as well as its spirituosity; and experience of the qualities of his grapes, and the taste of the consumers of his wine, can alone determine the