Cassell's dictionary of cookery

Wines, Home-made.—Home-made wines differ chiefly from foreign or grape wines in •containing a much greater quantity of malic acid, whilst the wine of the grape contains chiefly tartareous; for it is the presence of super-tartrate of potash by which the grape is most strongly distinguished from all the other sub-acid fruits applied to the purposes of winemaking. This salt is most abundant in the grape before ripening, and a portion of it disappears during this process. A consideration of this diversity led Dr. MaccuUoch to point out to the public the useful practice of introducing super-tartrate of potash into all those juices of fruits which are intended for the basis of homemade wines. This salt is doubtless decomposed ■during the fermentative processes, and a considerable quantity of what remains is subsequently deposited in the casks or bottles in which the wine is kept, constituting what is termed the crust of the wine. Few of our homemade wines possess an intense colour ; with the exception of the elderberry, mulberry, and the black cherry, scarcely any colour is contained in our domestic fruits. The colouring of home-made wines may be effected by bilberries, mulberries, or the husk of elderberries; these sub.stances impart a fine red colour to vinous fluids ; they are sometimes suffered to ferment with the must, to render the colour more intense. The practice of making wines from the produce of our gardens is deserving of very general attention. Foreign wines are entirely beyond the reach of the poor; and, therefore, the benevolent will endeavour to supply them, in age and sickness, with the best substitutes which our native fruits will afford. The following domestic fruits are weU calculated for the fabrication of wine : — The gooseberry, elderberry, mulberry, raspberry, blackberry, strawberry, red currant, black currant, white currant, and cranberry. These ferments will afford good and wholesome wines. It is a vulgar prejudice to suppose that the wines made from our domestic fruits are unwholesome. They may disagree with the constitutions of some persons, but no fact can wan-ant the assertion that they are more injurious than wines made from the grape. The pulpy fruits of our gardens, such as the peach, nectarine, plum, cherrj', damson, and apricot, may also be employed; but, upon the whole, they answer not so well for the fabrication of wines as the domestic sub-acid esculent berries. The gooseberry and currant are, of all other fruits, most commonly employed in the fabrication of home-made wines ; and, on the whole, they are best adapted for the purpose. When used in their green state, both gooseberry and currant may be made to form light brisk wines, falling little short of champagne. ERipe gooseberries are capable of making sweet or dry wines;but these are commonly ill-flavoured, particularly if the husk has not been carefully excluded. Ripe currants, if properly managed, make much better wines than gooseberries. These fruits are much improved, according to Dr. Macculloch, by boiling previously to fermentation. This, he states, is particularly the case with the black currant, which, when thus managed, is capable of making a wine closely resembling some of the best of the sweet Cape wines. The strawberry and raspberry are capable of making both dry and sweet wines of agreeable quality. ,