1872 Cooling Cups and Dainty Drinks (Mixellany)

4 Wines. in various countries. For weeks previously, the weather is anxiously watched from day to day ; for upon a continuance of weeks of fine weather the savour and bouquet of the wine essentially depend. Warmed by the glare of an unclouded sun, tem- pered by mild westerly winds, and moistened by dews, the grapes ripen and attain their exquisite flavour. When all is ready for the gathering, every one is astir. The contents of the vehicles which come loaded from the vineyard are no sooner deposited in the cuvier, or wine-press, than the treaders jump in and proceed to stamp out the purple juice, standing in it almost up to their knees. The wine-press consists of shallow tubs of different sizes, with holes in the side level with the bottom, from which the juice runs out, and passing through a sieve is strained from the husks into vessels below, ready to receive it. The treaders continue thus employed till all the juice has passed through into the vessels below. It takes nearly an hour to tread out all the juice from a good-sized cuvier; the juice is then emptied from the receiving vessels into large vats, and the residue remaining in the cuvier is added to the juice in the vats. When jiese are sufficiently full, the fermentation proceeds ; and so powerful is the emanation of carbonic acid