Page:A Treatise on the Culture of the Vine and, and the Art of Making Wine.pdf/195



The juice of the grape ferments in very small quantity, and may be made to go through all its stages of decomposition, in a glass placed on the table, but the phenomena of fermentation are powerfully modified by the difference of quantity, the fermentation being in general more rapid, tumultuous, and complete, as the quantity is more considerable.

The fermentation of a quantity of must deposited in a cask, was not completed till the eleventh day, while a vat containing twelve times the quantity of the same must, had ceased fermenting on the fourth. The heat in the cask did not rise above 63 degrees, while in the vat, it reached 77 degrees.

It is generally agreed, at the present day, that large vats have the advantage over those of smaller dimensions, because in them the fermentation develops itself much better, and consequently is more perfect and prompt. The wine, too, keeps better, because the decomposition of the principles of the must is more complete, and large vats are also less affected by variations in the atmosphere. But, on the other hand, it takes more time to fill a large vat, and by the degree of heat developed in it, there is a greater volatilization of alcohol, aud bouquet. It is for the cultivator to compare and