1891 Drinks à La Mode by Mrs de Salis

WINES AND SPIRITS

79

Bottling of Wines.

The a very important matter, as so much depends upon it as to the finest qualities of different wines. Wine should never be bottled till it is still, clear, and translucent. It is most material to have clean, dry bottles and sound corks. The necessary utensils for bottling are a bottling boot, apron, cork squeezer, a driving mallet of about a pound and a half in weight, and a pan with a little of the wine in for dipping the corks in. The corks must be driven in straight, leaving a space only of an inch between the wine and cork in the neck of the bottle. bottling of wine is is best always to decant w^ine through a and for port always use fine cambric in the strainer, which should always be taken out of the strainer and hung up to keep it fresh, or it would get musty and impart a bad flavour to the wine. To Ice Wines and Cups. It is only necessary to put the bottles or jug in the refrigerator, as the temperature can be regulated by the length of time it remains, but on first taking the cooled or iced liquid from the refrigerator, a wet cloth, wrung out in salt and water, should be wrapped round the bottle or jug, and it will then keep cool till required. There are now sold de- canters for champagne which have an ice-well in them, which keeps the champagne deliciously cool. strainer ; Decanting of Wine. It