d its sweet taste, and acquired a
somewhat rough and bitter one. Where it is desired to make a very dark
colored wine, without too much astringency, the grapes should be
stemmed, as most of the rough and bitter taste is in the stems; and it
can then be fermented on the husks for six or eight days. In this
manner the celebrated Burgundy wines are made; also most of the red
wines of France and Germany. Many of them are even allowed to go
through the whole process of fermentation, and the husks are filled
into the cask with the must, through a door, made in the upper side of
the cask; and it there remains, until the clear wine is drawn off. This
is seldom desirable here, however, as our red wine grapes have
sufficient astringency and color without this process. The treatment
during fermentation, racking, etc., is precisely the same as with white
wine, with only this difference, that the red wine is generally allowed
to stay longer on the lees; for our object in making this class of wine
is different than in making white, or so-called Schiller or light red
wine. In white and light colored wines we desire smoothness and
delicacy of bouquet and taste; in dark red wines, we desire astringency
and body, as they are to be the so-called stomach or medical wines. It
is therefore generally racked but once, in the latter part of February
or March, and the white and light colored wines are racked in December
or January, as soon as they have become clear--and again in March. We
also use no sulphur in fumigating the casks, as it takes away the color
to a certain extent. We generally do not use anything, but simply clean
the casks well, in racking red wine.

I will say a few words in regard to _under_ fermentation. If this
method is to be followed, the casks are not filled, but enough space
left to allow the wine to ferment, without throwing out lees and husks
at the bung. The bung is then covered, by laying a sack filled with
sand over it, and when fermentation is over--as well by this as by the
other method--the casks are filled with must or wine, kept in a
separate cask for the purpose. The casks should always be kept well
filled, and must be looked over and filled every two or three weeks, as
the wine will continually lose in quantity, by evaporation through the
wood of the casks. The casks should be varnished or brushed over with
linseed oil, as this will prevent evaporation to some extent.

In wine making, and giving the wine its