Sack (wine)

“ Another Receipt for to make Cock-bread.
But there are others will tell you, that you must take of Wheat, Pease, Beans, and Oates, of each a like quantity in Meal, or Flower finely dressed, with the Juice of Liquorish, and a little Sack, or strong Stale-Beer, with Brown Sugar-candy, Anniseeds, Carroway-seeds, mixed together: But if the Season be very hot, you [Pg 58] must put White-Wine instead of Sack, and as much common Ale as will make the Flower up into Dough, with the Whites of ten or twenty Eggs, and a Yolk or two amongst them ”

“ In aid of Mr. Malone's conjecture that sack was so called as being a dry wine, vin sec, it may be remarked that the old orthography was secke and not sack. Dr. Boorde in his Regimente of health, 1562, 12mo, calls it so. In Hollyband's French schoolemaister, 1619, 12mo, we have "secke, du vin sec." Again, "Some of you chaplaines, get my lorde a cup [Pg 257] of secke, to comfort his spirites." Ponet's Treatise of politike power, 1556, 12mo; and Cotgrave in his Dictionary, makes sack to be vin sec. ”

“ When violent fermentation has ceased, say after about ten or twelve days, and the must has become quiet, the cask should be closed with a tight bung, and the wine is left until it is clear. In about two to three months it ought to be perfectly clear and fine—is then racked, i.e., drawn from the lees, by means of a faucet, and put into clean, sweet casks. It is very important that the casks are "wine-seasoned," that is, have no other tang than of wine. ”

“ For shipping, the ordinary pipe or puncheon holding from 150 to 200 gallons is of a convenient size for handling, but for storing it is better to use as large a vessel as possible, and where the quantity stored is large, tuns of from 1000 to 3000 gallons or more in size are far preferable. In the first place, it is a well known fact that wine made at the same time, of grapes of like varieties, from the same vineyard, and under the same apparent conditions, turns out quite differently in different casks, and the contents of one cask may far excel in quality that of another. ”

“ Take five gallons of currant juice, and put it into a ten gallon cask, with twenty pounds of Havanna, or lump sugar, fill the cask with water, let it ferment, with the bung out, for some days; as it wastes fill up with water; when done working, bung down; and in two or three months after it will be fit for use: two quarts of French brandy added, after the fermentation ceases, would improve the liquor, and communicate to it a preserving quality. Wine may be made from strawberries, raspberries, and cherries in the same way. ”

“ Strain the liquid through a jelly-bag or fine sieve, pressing the pulp as dry as possible without allowing any of it to pass through the sieve. Add the sugar, stir occasionally until dissolved, then turn the preparation into a cask, and cover the bung-hole with a folded cloth. As soon as fermentation subsides add the brandy. Bung the cask securely, and allow it to remain undisturbed for 3 months. Rack the wine into a clean, dry cask, add the very finely-pared rind of the oranges and lemons, the barley-sugar finely-powdered, and the isinglass dissolved in a little warm water. ”

“ But in time, as the sugar disappears, the alcohol becomes enfeebled by evaporation, and then acetic fermentation sets in, as in the weaker wines.
In the sherry countries it is considered necessary that the wine should be exposed to the action of the air, and therefore the casks are not kept full, and flowers are considered a good sign. In a few instances, where the wines are strong enough to bear it, aging may be hastened by some exposure to the air, but great care must be taken that they are not left too long under its influence, or disorganization may ensue. ”

“ In the Case of Dry Wines, whose sugar has all been transformed, the same attentions are to be bestowed as in the case of new red wines, and the rules laid down are referred to. (See Red Wine.)
Mellow White Wines, that is, those which retain a portion of their sweetness after the tumultuous fermentation, particularly if they do not carry 15 per cent. of alcohol, require the greatest amount of care in order to preserve their mellowness in aging; for if left to themselves they will again enter into fermentation, and become dry. ”

“ Sweet wines are those which, after terminating their active fermentation, still retain a quantity of sugar. In order to produce natural sweet wines, it is necessary that the must should contain a large amount of sugar; Boireau says, from 16° to 25° Baumé, or about 29 to 46 per cent. It would seem that the latter figure is too high for a natural sweet wine, for it probably would not ferment at all, and to make a wine from a must containing over 35 per cent. of sugar, the alcohol must be added. ”

“ To each butt of this wine about six or seven gallons of spirit are added, while the must of other grapes have as much as twenty gallons mixed with each cask of must to check the fermentation, and keep the wine sweet. One-third of the spirit is poured in as soon as a small portion of the must has been put into the cask, a third when the cask is half full, and a third when nearly three-quarters full. The reason is obvious, as the spirit is lighter than the must, and would otherwise remain on the top. ”

“ The workman, by bearing down on the lever, or by pulling the strap at the end, tips the cask forward. When the wine has nearly all run out, it should frequently be examined by holding a small quantity to the light in a small, thin glass, and as soon as the slightest appearance of lees presents itself, the operation should cease, and none of the muddy wine should be poured into the other cask. ”

“ Before filling, however, the casks should have a double square of sulphur match burned in each, to prevent subsequent fermentations.
The use of the faucet is preferred, when the lees are thick, and the casks which contain them are near the ground, and are only used for storing lees. In the latter case, the injury to the cask by boring holes in the head at several heights, is of little consequence. A greater quantity of wine may be drawn off by the use of the faucet than with the glass siphon, but it is generally less clear than if carefully done with the latter; and one man can do the work. ”

“ In very bad years, when their wines become vinegar, they are sold for six florins the piece, and made into brandy. They yield one-tenth brandy.
White Champagne is deemed good in proportion as it is silky and still. Many circumstances derange the scale of wines. The proprietor of the best vineyard, in the best year, having bad weather come upon him while he is gathering his grapes, makes a bad wine, while his neighbor, holding a more indifferent vineyard, which happens to be ingathering while the weather is good, makes a better. The M. de Casotte at Pierrij formerly was the first house. ”

“ Select the finest wines of a year’s vintage, put them away by themselves, and carefully care for them and nurse them by racking, etc., during the year. The next year, separate the finest wines from the vintage, always leaving ullage in the casks of three to five gallons, according to size, and the bungs loose, simply laid over the hole. Go on in this way for five years. Now a fifth of this five-year-old wine may be drawn off for, and used to establish another solera, and the casks refilled from the four-year-old wine, which, of course, must be as nearly as possible of the same nature. ”

“ If a large tun is to be treated, the foul air should be expelled, and a man should not enter till a light will burn in it. (See the disease, Flatness.)
Acidity will be found in the cask if it is left for several days uncared for; the alcohol contained in the wine remaining on the inside of the cask acidifies in contact with the oxygen of the air, and is soon changed into acetic acid, and the change is much more rapid in a high temperature. ”

“ The husks are submitted, in hair bags, to the press; and the must which is the result of this operation, is mixed with that drawn from the vat. The whole is then put into casks, where it undergoes another fermentation, called the spirituous, which occupies from six to twelve days. The casks are then bunged up, and suffered to stand a few weeks, when the wine is racked off from the lees, and again returned to the same casks, after they have been perfectly cleansed. Two such rackings generally render the wine clear and brilliant. ”

“ The blending having been satisfactorily accomplished, the wine is stored in casks, never perfectly filled, yet with their bungholes tightly closed, and slowly continues its fermentation, eating up its sugar, purging itself, and letting fall its lees. Three months later it is fined. It is rarely kept in the wood for more than a year, though sometimes the superior qualities remain for a couple of years in cask. Occasionally it is even bottled in the spring following the vintage ”

“ It does not follow that a wine which shows a pretty bouquet in the primary stages will turn out well. On the contrary, it is frequently the case that the most successful wines in after years are those which at first show very little bouquet. The maturation of wine, whether it be in bottle or in cask, is an exceedingly interesting operation. The wines which remain for a long period in cask gradually lose alcohol and water by evaporation, and therefore become in time extremely concentrated as regards the solid and relatively non-volatile matters contained in them. ”

“ If putty well wrought, tar, or even yellow soap, be rubbed over the seams, and round the inner rim of the head of the cask, it will preserve it from opening. The equal temperature of the kitchen is preferred by experienced housewives to letting the vinegar stand abroad; they aver the coldness of the nights in this country is prejudicial to the process, being as speedily perfected as if it underwent no such check. By those well skilled in the manufacture of home-made wines and beer, excellent maple-wine and beer might be produced at a very trifling expense ”

“ Matthew other bottles are similarly arranged, and here wine in cask is likewise stored. We pass rows of huge tuns, each holding its twelve or thirteen hundred gallons of fine reserved wine designed for blending with more youthful growths; next, are threading our way between seemingly endless piles of hogsheads filled with later vintages, and anon are passing smaller casks containing the syrup with which the vin préparé is dosed. ”

“ Different kinds of White Wine.—Boireau divides white wines into three classes: dry, mellow, and sweet, whose characteristics depend essentially upon the density of their musts.
In Dry White Wines fermentation is complete, and all the sugar that is appreciable by the taste or the hydrometer, except the small amount changed into other substances, is transformed into alcohol and carbonic acid. The grapes are gathered as soon as ripe, and are not allowed to shrivel. The density of the must rarely exceeds 13° Baumé. ”

“ Bleasdale, it is necessary to gather the grapes as soon as they are completely ripe; that the lagar or fermenting vat should be filled as promptly as possible; that the mass should be thoroughly stirred; that the fermentation should be tumultuous and uninterrupted, and that the wine should be drawn off when it has developed a vinous smell and flavor, [Pg 109] and astringency and roughness to the taste, though all the sugar has not been fermented. The defective grapes are picked out, and only good ones put into the vat. ”

“ Having stirred it sufficiently, pour in the remainder of the wine drawn off, until the cask is full; then stir again, skimming off the bubbles that rise to the surface. When thoroughly mixed by stirring, close the bunghole, and leave it to stand for 3 or 4 days. A cask of clarified wine will fine thirteen dozen bottles of port or sherry. The other clearing ingredients are applied in the same manner, the material being cut into small pieces, and dissolved in a quart of wine, and the cask stirred in the same manner. ”

“ When nearly cold, add the yeast, which must be thick and very fresh, and, the next day, put all in a dry cask with the strained lemon-juice and chopped raisins. Stir the wine every day for a fortnight; then add the brandy, stop the cask down by degrees, and in a few weeks it will be fit to bottle. ”

“ This beverage, though somewhat too potent for modern palates, may, by proper dilution, be rendered no unworthy cup even in the present age. From the same noble hand we get a recipe for Sack Posset, which full well shows us propriety of taste in its compounder. "Boil a quart of cream with quantum sufficit of sugar, mace, and nutmeg; take half a pint of sack, and the same quantity of ale, and boil them well together, adding sugar; these, being boiled separately, are now to be added. Heat a pewter dish very hot, and cover your basin with it, and let it stand by the fire for two or three hours." ”

“ Excellent claret and champagne were liberally distributed among the Chief's immediate neighbours; whisky, plain or diluted, and strong beer refreshed those who sat near the lower end. Nor did this inequality of distribution appear to give the least offence. Every one present understood that his taste was to be formed according to the rank which he held at table; and, consequently, the tacksmen and their dependants always professed the wine was too cold for their stomachs, and called, apparently out of choice, for the liquor which was assigned to them from economy. ”