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A TR!i:ATISE ON
cate wine
is
intended to be made. Each laborer
places his gathering in an osier basket, or a sort ot
wooden dossier, carried with the least possible mo–
tion.
In
France, in the department of :Mame, the
grapes are carried on horseback, covered with
cloths. The grapes,
in
some countries, are plucked·
from the bunches ; in others they are placed entire
in
the press, stems and all. The best grapes only
are used for making the better
kinds
of wines. The
~tringent
principle lodged in the stems is thought
to be beneficial, and to impart to the wine a capa–
city for endurance, or long keeping. When picked,
it is only for red wine, and is generally done by the
hand. White wine grapes are rarely picked from
the clusters.
" Grapes were anciently trodden out, after being
exposed on a level :floor, to the action of the solar
rays, for ten days; they were then placed in the
shade for :five days more, in order to mature the
saccharine matter. This practice is still followed
in some of the islands of the Grecian Archipelago ;
at St. Lucar, in Spain; in Italy, at least in Calabria,
and in some of the north-eastern departments of
France. The fermentation
is
facilitated greatly by
this process.
In
some parts of France a laborer with
sabots treads the grapes out as they come from the
vineyard, in a square box, having holes
in
the bot-
Digitized
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