Page:A Treatise on the Culture of the Vine and, and the Art of Making Wine.pdf/184



is the must deposited in the vat, when fermentation commences. The juice which runs from the grape, in consequence of the pressure or jolting it receives in the carriage from the vineyard, may even be seen fermenting before it reaches the wine cellar. It was the practice of the ancients, to separate, with care, the first running, which only came from the ripest grapes, and cause it to ferment separately; and this is still occasionally practised, when a very delicate and slightly coloured wine is desired. But this forms only a small share of what the grapes yield, and is generally mixed with the produce of the treading, and allowed to ferment with it.

The vats in which the fermentation takes place, are constructed sometimes of wood and sometimes of stone, and are of a capacity proportioned to the produce of the vineyard. Those constructed of masonry, are usually of dressed stone, and are sometimes lined with brick and cement. Each