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DRINKS.
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facturer,
for
the
extremest
care
is
required
to
regulate
the
quantity
of
carbonic
acid
gas,
so
that
there
shall
be
neither
too
little
nor
too
much.
For
if
there
be
too
little,
the
wine
will
be
flat
;
and
if
there
be
too
much,
the
bottles
will
burst
by
thousands.
An
instru-
ment,
called
a
glucometer,
or
saccharometer,
is
used
to
measure
the
amount
of
saccharine
matter
in
the
wine
at
this
point
;
and
if
the
necessary
standard
be
not
reached,
the
deficiency
is
supplied
by
the
purest
sugar
candy.
To
the
ordinary
palate,
at
this
stage
it
differs
in
no
respect
from
still
white
wine,
of
somewhat
tart
flavour,
and
is
now
drawn
off
into
other
casks
to
undergo
the
next
treatment
in
the
process
;
viz.,
the
fining,
to
make
it
bright,
and
remove
what
is
known
to
connoisseurs
of
wine
as
'*
ropiness."
The
wine
is
now
ready
for
bottling,
and
the
danger
to
be
avoided
is
the
bursting
of
the
bottles,
for
the
pressure
of
the
gas
is
tremendous
;
hence
it
is
that
the
champagne
bottle
is
the
most
solid
and
massive
in
use.
The
bottling
takes
place,
as
a
rule,
about
eight
months
after
the
grapes
have
been
first
pressed,
and
the
pre-
cautions
against
breakage
are
of
the
most
minute
description.
The
instant
any
symptoms
of
bursting
display
themselves,
the
wine
has
to
be
removed
to
a
cooler
temperature
;
but
even
with
every
precaution,
the
loss
sustained
by
the
bursting
of
bottles
is
often
very
serious
indeed,
sometimes
to
an
almost
ruinous
extent.
The
risk
of
breakage
is
generally
almost
past
by
the
end
of
October,
and
the
bottles
are
then
kept
in
the
cellars
for
a
period
ranging
from
eighteen
months
to
three
years,
according
to
the
custom
of
the
establishment.