42 / 154
42
A TREATISE ON
dealer, by the addition. of
t
pint of spirit coloring,
a gallon of brandy, and a few drops of the essen–
tial oil of bitter almonds dissolved
in
spirit ; the
hole being well mixed and fined down.
.Decanting.-'--This
only refers to small quantities
of wine, ready for consumption.
In
decantingwine,
be careful not to shake or disturb the crust when
moving it about or drawing the cork, particularly
port wine. Never decant wine without a wine–
strainer, with some fine cambric in it to prevent the
crust and bits of cork going into the decanter.
In
decanting port wine do not drain it too near ; there
are generally two thirdir of a wine-glass of thick·
dregs in each bottle, which ought not to be put in.
But in white wine, there
is
not much settling ; pour
it out, however, very slowly, and raise the bottle up
gradually ; it should never be decanted in a hurry.
Be careful not to jostle the decanters against each
other when moving them about, as they easily
break, especially when full.
.DecoWring.-The
color of wines is precipitated by
age and by exposure to the light. It is also Artifi–
cially removed by the action of milk, lime-water, or
fresh-burnt charcoal. Wine merchants avail them–
selves of this property for the purpose of whitening
wines that have acquired a brown color from the
cask, or which are esteemed pale; and also for turn-
Digitized
by