39 / 244
Ilome-made
Wines.
39
gained
strength
;
in
fact,
this
gentleman
affirms
that
it
might
have
passed
off
for
good
Hock
to
any
one
who
was
not a
perfect
connoisseur.
The
uncertainty
of
our
climate,
however,
with
its
spring
frosts
and wet
summers,
and
the
expense
of
labour,
in
comparison
with
that
of
other
countries,
would
render
vine-growing
impossible.
The
name
of
wine
is
familiarly
bestowed
on
the
fermented
juice
of
all
sub-acid
fruits
and
other
sub-
stances.
The
juice
of
the
grape
contains
a
con-
sidei'able
quantity
of
tartaric
acid.
This
acid
being
but
slightly
soluble
in
wine,
gradually
settles
on
the
sides
of
the
bottle
or
cask,
forming
“the
crust.”
Home-made
wines
—
as
those
are
termed which
are
made
from
various
fruits
—
contain
a
very
great
proportion
of
citric
or
malic
acid,
which
acids
are
soluble
and
dissolve
in
the
liquor.
In
order
to
neutralize
this
acidity,
it
is
requisite
to
add
sugar,
and
also
some
spirit
to
prevent
the
fermentation
the
sugar
would
cause.
This
proceeding
shows
the
difference
which
exists
between
wines
made
from
the
grape
and
those
made
from
the
gooseberry,
&c.
The
brandy
in
foreign
(or
grape)
wines,
being
in
natural
combination
with
the
wine,
which,
blended
with
the colouring
matter
and
other
oro-anic
sub-
stances,
produces
on
the
digestive
system
an
effect