OCR Text |
Show wi Regions, the Liquor becomes more pure in Subftance, more tran{parent to the Eye, more piquant and guftful to the Palate, more agreeable to the Stomach, and more nutritive to the Body. The Impurities being thus feparated from the Liquor, are, upon Chymical Examinations, found to confift of Sait, Sulphur (each ofwhichis impregnate with fome Spirits) and much Earth, Which being now diffociated from the purer Spirits, either mutually cohere, coagulate, and affix themfelves to the Sides ofthe Veflels, in formof a ftony Cruft, which is call’'d Zartar and Argol, or fink to the Bottom in a muddy Subftance, like the Grounds of Ale or Beer, which is call’d the Lees of And this is the Procefs of Nature in the cation of all Wines, by an orderly Feration. As for the principal Agent or efficient Cause of this Operation, it feems to be no other but the Spirit of the Wine itfelf: Which, according to the Mobility of its Nature, feeking after Liberty, reftlefly moving every way in the Mafs of the Liquor, thereby diffolves that common Tye of Mixture, wherebyalli Commotion, and the Salt diffolved and {et afloat, obtains the Maftery over the other fimilar Parts, and introduceth Rankne/s or Ropine/s. Nay, if thofe Commotions chance to be fupprefs’d before, the Wine is thereby much deprav’'d ; yet do theyalways leave {uchill Im- | preffions, as more or lef§ alienate Wine from the Goodnefs ofits former State, in Colour. Confiftence and Tafte. { For herebyall ines acquire a deeper Tincture, i. e. a thicker Body or Confiftence Sacks and White Wines changing from a ae White to a cloudy Yellow; and Claret lofing its bright Red for a duskifh Orange Colour and fometimesfor a Tawny. Inlike menRC? they degenerate alfo in Za/fe, and affecé the Palate with Foulnefs, Roughnefsand Rancidity very unpleafant, Among the External are commonly reckon- ed the too frequent or violent Motion of Wines, after their Settlement in their Veflels ; immoderate Heat, Thunder, or the Report of Cannon, and the Admixture of any exotick Body, which will not fymbolize or agree and incorporate with them, efpecially the Flefh of the heterogeneous Parts thereof were com- Vipers, which has been frequently obferv’d to bined and blended together ; and having gottenitfelf free, at length abandons them to the Tendencyof their Gravity and other Properties. Which they foon obeying, each Kind conforts with their like, and betaking themfelves to their feveral Places or Regions, leave the Liquor to the Poffeffion and Government of its nobleft Principle the Spirit, For this Spirit, as it is the Life of the Wine, fo doubtlefs it is alfo the Caufe of its Purity and Vigour, in which the Perfeétion of that Life feems to confift. From the natural Fermentation of Vines, we pafs to the accidental; from their State of Soundnefs, to that of their Sickne/s, which is the fecond general Head. Wehave the Teftimony of Experience, that frequently, even thofe Wines that are Good and Generous, are invaded by unnatural and fickly Commotions, or (as the Winecoopers call them) Workings ; during which duce a very great Acidity upon even the theyare turbulent in Motion, thick of Con- fiftence, unfavoury in Tafte, unwholfome in Ufe ; and after which they undergo fundry Alterations for the worfe. 7 The Caufes of this may be either Internal or External. _ Among the Internal, the chief Place may beaffign’d to the exceflive Quantity of Zartar or of Lees, which contain much Sa/t and Su/pbhur, and continuallyfend forth into the Liquor abundance of quick add ative Particles, that like Stum or other adventitious Ferment, put it into a frefh Tumult or Confiufion, which, if not in Time allayed, the Wine either grows rank or pricking, or elfe turns four, by reafon that the Suipbur being too muchexalted above the reft of the Elements or Ingredients, predominates over the pure Spirits, and infeés the whole Mafs of Liquor with Sharpnefs or Acidity : Or elfe it comes to pafs, that the Spirits being fpent and flown away. in the fweeteft and fulleft bodied Malaga and Canary Wines. Yet all thefe foreign Accidents maybe accounted rather Occa/fions than Cau/fes of the ill Events that follow upon them ; becaufe thefe Events feem to arife immediately and principally from the Commotion and Diffufion of the fulpbureous and faline Impurities formerly feparated from the Liquor, and kept in due Subjection by the genuine and LenignSpirits. This brings us, in the next Place, to the third previous Thing confiderable, viz. the palling or flatting of Vines, and their declining towards Vinegar, before they have attained to Wi fore eafily pall, in which refpect theyare condemned by fome German Phyficians, as bad for generating the Scurvy, and adminiftring Matter for the Stone and Gout; they yielding more of Tartar than other Wines. The Spirits of Wine may be exhaufted or confumed, either fuddenly or gradually. Sud- denly, by Lightning, which {poils Wine (as may be conceived) at leaft, not by Congealation or Fixation of its Spirits; for then fuch /Vixes might be capable of being reftored by fuch means as are apt to reinforce and volatilize the Spirits again, contrary to what hath been found by Experience, but perhaps by Di/gregation, and putting them to Flight, fo as to leave the Liquor dead, pall’d, and never to be revived by any Supply. Gradually, two Ways, viz. by unnatural Fermentation; of the ill Effeéts of which, fomething has beenalready faid: Or by Heat from without; of which, we have an Inftance in the making of Vinegar; which commonly is done byfetting the Veflels of Wine againft the hot Sun ; which, beating upon the Mafs of Liquor, and rarefying the finer Parts thereof, gives Wings to the fugitive Spirits to fly away together with the purer and more volatile Su/phur, leaving the Remainder to the Dominion of the Sait, which foon debafeth and infecteth it with Sourne/s. This being the common manner of turning Wine into Vinegar, in all Ages and all Countries, it may be doubted whether Spirit of Wine may be drawn out of Vinegar, notwithftanding it hath been delivered as Practical by Sennertus himfelf. The Times of the Year when Wines are obferv’d tobe moft prone to Ferment and Fret, and then to grow Qually (as it is call'd) that is, Turbulent and Foul, are Mid/ummer and Athallond Tide ; when our Vintners are wont their Scate of Maturity and Perfection. to rack them from their grofs Lees, efpecially Rhenifh, which commonly grows fick in Fue, Of this the greateft and neareft Caufe feems to be their Fejunene/s and Poverty of Spirits, either Native or Adventitious. Native, when the Grapes themfelves are of Wane of the Moon and fair Weather, the Wind being Northerly. Having thus fuccinétly recounted the moft a poor and hungry Kind, or gathered unripe, or nipt by early Frofts, or halfftarved in their Growth, by a dry and unkindly Seafon, or too full of watery Parts. Adventitious, when the Liquor, rich, per- haps, and generous enough at firft, come terwards to be impoverifhed by Lofs of Spi either by Oppreffion, or by Exh, A The Spirits of Hine maybe oppre(fed the Quantity of Impurities or Dregs, with which they are combined, is fo great, and their Crudity, Vifcofity and Tenacity fo ftubborn, that they can neither overcome them, nor deliver them from their Adhefion ; but are forced to yield to the Obftinacy of Matter on whichthey fhould operate, < to remain unactive and cloge’d. exemplified in the co te which, byreafon of their great Aufterity and Roughnefs, feldomattain to a due Exaltation of their Spirits, but ftill remain turbulent, thick, and in a State of Crudity, and therefore For the fame Reafon, perhaps, it is, that the Spaniards mix with their Wines, while they are yet flowing from the Pre/s, a certain thing they call Gieffo, which, probably, isa Kind of Gyp/am or Plaifter, whereby the Wines are made more durable, of a paler Colour, and pleafanter Tafte: Others put into the Cask Shavings of Fur, Oak, or Beech, for the fame Purpofe ; and others Vinegar. Again, tho’ the firft Fermentation fucceeds generally well, fo that the whole Mafs of Liquor is thereby delivered from the grofs Lee ; yet fometimesit happens, either thro’ Scarcity ofSpirits at firft, or through immoderate Cold, that fome Part of thofe Impurities remain con- fufed and floating therein. Now, in this Cafe, Wine-Coopers put into the Vine certain things to haften and help its Clarification; fach as, being of grofs and vii> cous Parts, may adhere to the floating Lee, and finking, carry it with them to the Bottom; of which fort are, Ifing-glafsand the Whites of Eggs: Or fuch, as meeting with the groffer and earthy Particles of the Lee, both diffociate and fink them by their Gravity ; of which kind are, the Powders of Alabafter, Calcin’d Flints, White Marble, Roch Allum, &c. The Clarification of Jppocras is ufually expedited by putting into it new AL/k ; which, after a fhort Space of Time, feparates and finks ofitfelf, carrying with it the Powders of the Species, and groffer Parts of theime, after the manner ofthings that clarify Liquors by way of Adhefion. The Grecians, at this Day, have a peculiar wayof {purring Nature, in Fining and Ripening their ftrongeft and moft generous //ines ; and this is done, by adding to them, when they begin to work, a proportionate Quantity of Sulphur and Alum; not (as it is very probable) to prevent their fuming up to the Head, andinebriating, according to the ConjeCture ofthat great Man the Lord St. Albans ; if not rack’d; and they chufe to do it in the for notwithftanding this Mixture, they caufe remarkable Diftempers of Wines; gueffed at Drunkenne& as foon, if not fooner, than other Wines ; nor are Menintoxicated by the Vapours of Vine flying up immediately from the Stomach into the Brain; but only to exci their refpective Caufes, and touch’d uponthe Times, it is proper to proceed to their ufual Remedies ; fach, at leaft, as may be collected from [Wine-Coopers and Vintners, which is the and promote Fermentation, and haften their Clarification that enfues thereupon ; the Sulphur, perhaps, helping to attenuate and divide thofe grofs and vifcid Parts, wherewith To begintherefore with fome of the drtifices ufed to Wines when yet in Muft ; it is obfervable, that tho’ to raifing a Fermentation in them at that Time, there is not fo much need of any additional Ferment, as thereis in the Wort of Ale, Beer, Hydromel, Metheghin and other Sorts of Drinks familiar to us in England ; becaufe the Juice of the Grape is replenifh’d with generous Spirits, fufficient of cing tothe fpeedier Precipitation of themafter fourth and la{t Part propofed to betreated of. themfelves to begin that Work ; yetit is ufual in fome Countries to put quick Lime either upon the Grapes, when they are prefling, or into the Mz/?; to the end that by the Force and Quick of its faline and fiery Particles, the Liquor maybe bothaccelerated and affifted in Working. Greek Wine abounds; and the Alum conduwards, Anda learned Traveller relates, that fome Merchants put into every Pipe oftheir Greek Wine, a Gill, or thereabouts, of the Chymical Oil of Sulphur, in order to preferve ; it the longer clear and found. Which, tho’ it is very probable, becanfe in the Su/pbur is known torefift Putrefaction Liquors, yet one would decline the Ute of Wines fo preferved, unlefs in Time of Peftilential Infection. But of all ways of the haftening the none feems Clarification and Ripening //ine, to be more eafy, or lefs noxious, than that borrowed from one of the Antients by the I nt Lord Chancellor Eacon, which is by Iputting } the |