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THE l\IIXICOLOG I ST.
bunches exhibit a yellowish brown (instead of a
green) color, and show signs of flacidity. In Spain,
France, and Portugal it is a very common practice
to dust over the grapes with plaster of paris, or to
add the plaster to the must. The intention is to
prevent putrefaction of the berries in the latter, to
add to the chemical stability of the wine.
Effervescing or Sparkling Wines.
These wines are largely impregnated with car–
bonic acid, engendered by an after-fermentation in
the closed bottle by means of added sugar.
The ar t originated in Champagne, where the best
sparkling wines are produced, and whence it has
spread to the Rhine, the Moselle, and other dis–
tricts. A champagne which contains relatively
little sugar is called "dry "; it is chiefly this kind
which is imported into Great Britain, where ch am–
pagne is used habitually principally as a dinner
wine; inFrance a sweet wine is preferred. At the
presentday wine is practically a European pro–
duct, although a certain quantity is · '.nade in the
United States, at the Cape of Good Hope, and in
Australia.
France shows to-day, and has during several iso–
la t ed seasons the past twenty years, shown herself
to be the most remarkable wine-producing country
country in the world's history, and this in face of
the fact that the United States and Italy, with more
territory suitable to grape-growing, and with won-