1880 Facts about Port and Madeira by Henry Vizetelly

Elderberries and Logwood—Generalremarks about Fort. 143

admittingthat lie had been the means of promulgatmg"a great and deplorable error; as it was quite impossible to dye wine of any kind with logwood,for the colour of logwood is purple only in alkaline solution, and not in acid,in which it is only tawny." And he wound up by saying that"the sooner we dismiss these prejudices and errors regarding elderberry and logwood in Port wine the better." When scientific men- are found carelessly making assertions of this nature it is scarcely to be wondered that the general public should lend a ready ear to the many extravagant statements afloat with reference to the sophistication of wines. That Port wine has spirit put into it to conserve a portion of its saccharine when the grapes are not over-ripe, and also to keep down ulterior fermentation when these have ripened in excess, is commonly known. Wine charged with fermentative elements in the form of saccharine is always likely to become troubled when disturbed; and hence Port wine usually receives a small additional quantity of spirit whenever it is racked and previous to its being shipped. The amount of spirit added varies according to the character of the vintage and the judg ment of the shipper, who,when left to himself, puts in only as much as he considers absolutely necessary to render the wine safe. It is not his interest to add spirit in excess, as its cost is much greater than that of the best wine; besides which the wine shipped with the smallest amount of adventitious spirit is certainly the wine to be preferred. Mr.M.J. Elhs, of the firm of W.and J.Graham and Co.,who had ample opportunities for arriving at a correct conclusion, has asserted that in years when the grapes have thoroughly rij)ened, perfectly-fermented Alto Douro wine will develop 32 degrees of proof spirit, and when made exclusively,from the bastardo grape as many as 34 degrees. It appears, moreover, from the report made by Mr.Bernard,of Her Majesty's Customs,of his inquiry into the strength ofthe Spanish and Portuguese wines, that a wine vin- taged by Mr.Pladgate in 1860 in the Quinta da Eoiida and made inthe first instance without any addition of spirit,and which had