751. To Remedy Sour Wine

751.    To Remedy Sour Wine. The souring of wine is produced by various circumstances, sometimes from its having been kept in a warm cellar where it has been exposed to draughts of air, often by the vibration occasioned by the rolling of heavy bodies over the cellar; but most frequently it originates from the wine having been imperfectly fermented. The only safe remedy for the souring of wine is the cautious addition of a little neutral tartrate of potash; it may also be mixed with a larger quantity of rich wine of its kind, at the same time adding a little good brandy. "Wine treated in this way should be fined after having stood 2 or 3 weeks, and then immediately bottled, and consumed as soon as possible, for it will never prove a good keeping wine. (See No. 761 (Parent's Method of Preserving Wine).)

752. To Restore Pricked or Decaying Wine

752.    To Restore Pricked or Decaying Wine. If the wine is only thick, add 2 pints of milk to every 30 gallons of wine, and stir 10 minutes. But if the wine has an inferior taste, or is partly or entirely spoiled, treat it as follows : Put the 30 gallons wine into a clean cask, then take 2 pints spirit of wine, 95 per cent.; 3 ounces common salt; 1 pound white sugar. Dissolve the salt and sugar in 1/2 gallon of the wine, and add the spirit. Then pour the whole gradually into the wine, being careful to stir it continually with a stick during the operation. After the mixture is all poured in the wine, stir the whole for 10 minutes longer. Then add 2 pints milk and continue stirring 10 minutes more. After some days the wine will be completely clarified and restored. "Pricked" wine signifies wine which has been slightly soured.

753. To Remedy Excessive Acidity in German Wine

753.    To Remedy Excessive Acidity in German Wine. Simply add a little chalk. This mode of correcting the sourness of wine is perfectly harmless, whereas the pernicious practice of using white and vitrified lead for this purpose cannot be too much condemned. Lead in any form is a poison.

754. To Restore Sour Wine with Potash

754.      To Restore Sour Wine with Potash. To 25 gallons wine, add 4 ounces potash dissolved in a little water, and stir well with a stick for 10 minutes.

755. To Test Wines Beginning to Decompose

755.    To Test Wines Beginning to Decompose. Many persons are unaware of the difference between a wine that is beginning to decompose (called in French the Poux), and that in which the acetous fermentation has commenced. The Poux appears at the bottom of the barrel, while acetification begins at the top. For the first stage of the Poux the wine becomes thick, and has a peculiar taste termed flat. For the second stage the wine becomes still more troubled, and has the taste of stagnant water. Finally, in the last stage, when the decomposition has reached its maximum, the wine becomes grayish and appears like muddy water. If some of the wine is put into a champagne glass and a pinch of tartaric acid is added, a red color will be produced, which will not be the case if the wine is in a state of acetous fermentation.