tity of the wine manufactured is of more importance than its quality, the cuverie is less carefully planned as to temperature regulation, and is more cheaply constructed, and consists commonly of a onestory, rectangular building of sufficient width to contain two rows of vats or tuns, with an alley space along the center to serve as a passageway for the grape carts. These structures are only employed in the manufacture of inferior wines, since being subject to the direct action of the sun and the hot air, the high temperature resulting within the building destroys much of the finer qualities of the grape. The cellar furniture comprises the press, mills for washing and preparing the grapes, fermentation vats, casks or tuns, tubs used in pressing, the saccharometer or must scale, etc. These will be considered more in detail in the discussion of the several steps in wine making.

CUVAGE, OR FERMENTATION OF THE GRAPE ON THE HUSKS.The term cuvage means the fermentation of the grape juice or must in connection with the skins or husks and other solid parts of the berry, and hence does not apply to the manufacture of white wines, in which the must is separated from the solid parts immediately after gathering. The making of white and other special wines will be treated after describing the methods employed in making the more important red wines.

The preparation of the grapes for fermentation in the manufacture of red wines includes a number of operations, all of which may sometimes be omitted. Thus the grapes may be thrown at once into the fermenting vats, or they may be more or less crushed, or, finally, the berries may be entirely separated from the stems and crushed before placing them in the vats.

The special treatments referred to are foulage, or crushing or mashing the grapes, and égrappage, or stemming or separating the berries from the stems.

Stemming.-Égrappage or stemming has been followed more or less from the earliest times, but is far from being generally practiced by French wine-makers. The stem when introduced with the must acts on the latter mechanically and chemically. The mechanical action consists in facilitating the access of air, and consequently the fermentation.

The chemical action arises from the stems imparting to the wine a considerable portion of the tannic acid which they contain and thus giving the wine a certain astringency which is of value to the wines of south France, which frequently lack in acidity, and is an objection to wines which are naturally acid or strong in tannic acid.

The variety of grape and the state of maturity of the crop are taken into account in deciding whether to practice égrappage or not. The proper course can only be determined by experience or by an analysis of the grapes in each region and for each variety of grape.

The following rules for égrappage are given by Rougier (Manuel Pratique de Vinification, p. 48):

In general the stems should be removed (1) when the grapes are very green; (2) when the variety is naturally very astringent. The stems should be retained (1) when the maturity is much advanced; (2) when the grapes lack acidity, and when they contain a considerable quantity of mucilaginous matters, as in the case of those grown on very rich lands. The stems should also be retained whenever there is liability of incomplete fermentation.

The instruments designed to separate the berry from the stem are numerous and varied. For small quantities of grapes égrappage is accomplished by means of a trident, as follows:

Into a tub partially filled with grapes the operator plunges a threebranched rod or trident, which he causes to revolve rapidly. The berries are by this means detached and go to the bottom, while the lighter stems rise to the surface and are removed.

Another method followed for limited work is the use of an osier sieve with meshes sufficiently large to allow the passage of the berries and at the same time to retain the stems. The sieve or screen is placed above the vat or above the hopper of the crusher and partially filled with grapes, and by shaking it backward and forward the berries are separated and fall into the vat.

For larger quantities of grapes recourse is had either to the égrap poir or stemmer of Loyère & Gaillot or to the much more effective and superior rotating égrappoir recently devised and perfected by M. Gaillot. The latter only will be described. It consists of two instruments united into one; (1) a crushing mill placed on the upper part, which is provided with two cylinders, between which the grapes are passed; (2) the égrappoir proper, which is composed of a kind of box having for its base a semi-cylindrical sheet of copper pierced with holes of 30 milimeters diameter. In this box is a shaft provided with lateral arms arranged in the form of a helix. The grapes are emptied into the hopper, are crushed in passing between the rollers, and fall into the égrappoir. The movement of rotation frees the stems from the berries and juice, which escapes through the copper bottom, and the stems by means of the lateral arms, are carried to the extremity of the instrument where they are discharged. The work goes on continuously, one man being sufficient to operate the machine. From 70 to 80 kilograms of grapes are discharged per minute. If desired the crusher can be employed separately, it being possible to easily detach it from the égrappoir proper.

After passing from the cylinder the stems still retain a small quantity of must, which is extracted by pressing and is generally kept separate and employed in making vinegar. A mounted machine of this kind is shown at Fig. 165.

Crushing. The crushing of the grape, or foulage, which consists

in rupturing the skin and expressing a considerable portion of the juice, when deemed advisable, is done either before or while the grapes are being placed in the fermentation vats. Foulage is ordinarily considered indispensable to the complete fermentation of the juice of the grape, but under certain circumstances it may be partly or entirely omitted and it has been found that the best wines of Bordeaux in years when the grapes reach their full maturity are made without foulage, and while being lighter colored, are distinctly finer in taste. Rougier, in the work already quoted, gives the following rules for foulage: (1) Complete foulage is useless in South France for thin skinned grapes which are fermented in casks. The partial crushing given them in placing them in the casks is sufficient. (2) Placing grapes in casks and crushing them after fermentation begins may be favorable in the case of incompletely ripened fruit.

FIG. 165.-Mounted rotating égrappoir (Gaillot system). Mabille freres, Amboise. France.

(3) In all other cases crushing probably ought to be practiced. (4) If crushing is practiced before the grapes are placed in the fermentation vats it is necessary for each locality and for each variety of grape to determine by experiment whether the crushing should be complete or partial.

Foulage is accomplished in various ways, including the traditional method with human feet, which last, while somewhat repugnant, is claimed to have certain real advantages. The weight of a man or woman is not apt to crush any green grapes that may occur, and especially the seeds, which it is very important to leave intact, as

they contain an oil injurious to the wine. The trituration of the skins is also better accomplished.

The foot method consists in tramping the grapes either with the naked feet or with wooden shoes-the former preferred-on special platforms, from which the liquid runs as fast as it is expressed. The operation is long and tedious and has, in a measure, been supplanted by the employment of machine crushers.

There are numerous makes of mechanical crushers used throughout France, but they are generally constructed after the same type, being practically identical with the form referred to in connection with the crushing égrappoir of Gaillot. They consist of a hopper beneath which work two grooved cylinders. The latter may be regulated as to distance of separation so that the crushing may be of any desired degree of completeness. The hollow cast-iron cylinders

FIG. 166.-Simple grape-crusher. Marmonnier fils, Lyons, France.

now commonly used are preferable to wooden ones, the latter being apt to swell and warp or to be injured by the small stones or bits of wood that accidentally become mixed with the grapes. The crusher is frequently mounted on a simple frame so that it may readily be placed either directly above the pressing crate as in the manufacture of white wines or over the fermentation vat in the case of red wines (Fig. 166.) The grape-crushers are, however, ordinarily mounted, and the legs are frequently provided with wheels to facilitate transportation. This is always the case when the crushing is done in a room above the cellar proper, the grapes being discharged from the machine through openings in the floor into the fermentation vats below, as illustrated in Fig. 167, which represents a crusher of the form generally used in South France.

Foulage is sometimes accomplished after the grapes are placed in the fermentation vat as follows:

A man, naked of course, gets into the vat and breaks the grapes up with his body, hands, and feet, and thoroughly distributes the solid parts of the grape throughout the must. This method is not only exceedingly repugnant, but is accompanied with considerable danger to the operator by reason of the escape in large quantities of carbonic acid gas during fermentation. To avoid this danger the cellars are thoroughly aired and the precaution is taken to have an assistant near at hand. Tests with a candle are also made before entering the vat.

Foulage in the vats is also done with crushing sticks or pcunders consisting of a handle and an enlarged end with which the grapes are broken up and incorporated with the must. In the two methods

FIG. 167.-Grape-crusher used in South France. G. Pepin fils aîne, Bordeaux, France.

just described and where the human feet are employed the must is thoroughly aërated, which is not the case when the crushing is accomplished by means of the machines described above. Thorough aëration greatly facilitates fermentation and is very useful in certain cases, notably when it is desirable to obtain a complete transformation of the sugar into alcohol and to aid in the defecation or clearing of wines made from grapes too rich in nitrogenous matters. tion is also practiced in regions where the temperature is normally low and fermentation consequently proceeds slowly. To aërate the must suction and force pumps are sometimes employed to force the liquid must back into the general mass, which at the same time incorporates with the latter a good deal of air.

A machine for crushing the grapes and aërating them at the same time has been invented by Dr. Menudier and has given good success,