1880 Facts about Port and Madeira by Henry Vizetelly

184

The Vineyards and Wines of Madeira.

germs offermentation still remain in it,andto mature ittlie more- rapidly in order that it may be shipped in its second and third year without any further addition of spirit. The use ofthese estufas in Madeira dates from the.commencement of the present century, and the great bulk ofthe wine undergoes this or a simi lar mode of treatment previously to its being shipped. These artificially-heated estufas are only used by the larger shipping houses, who,however,heat wine in them for other shippers at a stated rate. Others accomplish the desired object by placing their wines in a kind of glass-house, where they remain exposed to thefuU heat of the sun. In the daytime a temperature of from 120 to 130 deg. is secured, which, however, becomes con siderably lowered during the night—a circumstance which is- regarded by many as detrimental to the develoj)ment of the wine. In the country districts where estufas in no form exist, the holders of wine place the butts out in the open air in favour able positions to secure the full influence of the sun's rays. The practice prevalent for many years past of sending Madeira on a voyage to the East or West Indies and home again is simply a variation of this method of maturing the wine by subjecting it to a high degree of temperature,the heat which it encounters in, these latitudes when shut up in the ship's hold being necessaiily very great. In the estufas Iam now describing—which,if packed full, are capable of heating 1,600 pipes of wine at onetime—the pipes- are placed onend in stacks offour, with smaller casks on the top of them, a narrow gangway being left between the difEerent stacks to admit of the passage of a man for the pui-pose of ascertaining that the casks do not leak, as when subjected to- great heat they are naturally inclined to do. A hole about the sixth of an inch in diameter has been previously bored in the bung of each pipe to allow the hot vapour to escape,otherwise the pipe would burst. As it is, the casks not unfrequently leak, as we perceive by numerous dull patches in various parts of the- floor, rendering it necessary for the different compartments of the estufa to be inspected once during the daytime and once-