Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

CHEMISTRY OF

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V28, Page 720 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

CHEMISTRY OF See also:WINE Maturation of the See also:Grape.—The processes which take See also:place in the grape during its growth and maturation are of considerable See also:interest. E. See also:Mach has made some interesting observations on this point. At first—i.e. at the beginning of See also:July when the berries have attained to an appreciable size—the specific gravity of the juice is very See also:low; it contains very little See also:sugar, but a See also:good See also:deal of See also:acid, chiefly See also:free tartaric acid and malic acid. The juice at this See also:period contains an appreciable amount of See also:tannin. As the See also:berry grows the amount of sugar gradually increases, and the same up to a certain point applies to the acidity. The See also:character of the acidity, however, changes, the free tartaric acid gradually disappearing, forming bitartrate of potash and being otherwise broken up. On the other See also:hand, the free malic acid increases and the tannin decreases. When the grape is ripe, the sugar has attained to a maximum and the acidity is very much reduced; the tannin has entirely disappeared. The following figures obtained by Mach afford an interesting See also:illustration of these processes At first the sugar in the juice consists entirely of dextrose, but later See also:fructose (laevulose) is formed. The sugar in ripe grape juice is practically invert sugar, i.e. consists of practically equal parts of dextrose and fructose. The proportion of sugar See also:present in the juice of ripe grapes varies considerably according to the type of grape, the locality and the See also:harvest.

In temperate climates it varies as a See also:

rule between 15 and 20%, but in the See also:case of hot 'climates or where the grapes are treated in a See also:special manner, it may rise as high as 35% and more. See also:Fermentation.—The fermentation of grape juice, i.e. the must, is, as we have seen, a relatively See also:simple operation, consisting as it does in exposing it to the spontaneous See also:action of the micro-organisms contained in it. The See also:main products formed are, as in all cases of Constitution of Grape Juice at Various Periods of Maturation. (E. Mach.) Date of See also:Analysis of Juice. 6th July. 12th Aug. 9th See also:Sept. 12th Oct. Specific gravity . 'salts I.029 1.083 I.093 Sugar Per cent. Per cent.

Per cent. Per cent. 0.86 2.02 18.52 23.17 See also:

Total acid (as 2.66 3.46 0.87 0.71 tartaric acid) . See also:Tartar 0.67 0.55 0'54 0.55 Malic acid 1.16 2.47 0.55 0.42 Tannin o•to6 o•oI2 .. alcoholic fermentation, ethylic See also:alcohol, See also:water and carbonic acid. At the same See also:time various subsidiary products such as See also:glycerin, succinic acid, small quantities of higher See also:alcohols, volatile acids and See also:compound See also:esters are produced. In the case of red wines colouring See also:matter is dissolved from the skins and a certain amount of See also:mineral matter and tannin is extracted. It is to these subsidiary matters that the flavour and bouquet in wine are particularly due, at any See also:rate in the first stages of maturation, although some of the substances originally present in the grape, such as ready-formed esters, essential See also:oils, See also:fat and so on, also See also:play a role in this regard. In view of the fact that fresh grape juice contains innumerable bacteria and moulds, in addition to the yeast cells which bring about the alcoholic fermentation, and that the means which are adopted by the See also:brewer and the distiller for checking the action of these undesirable organisms cannot be employed by the wine-maker, it is no doubt remarkable that the natural wine yeast so seldom fails to assert a preponderating action, particularly as the number of yeast cells at the beginning of fermentation is relatively small. The fact is that the constitution of See also:average grape juice and the temperatures of fermentation which generally prevail are particularly well suited to the See also:life action of wine yeast, and are inimical to the development of the other See also:organ-isms. When these conditions fail, as is, for instance, the case when the must is lacking in acidity, or when the See also:weather during the fermentation period is very hot and means are not at hand to cool the must, bacterial See also:side fermentations may, and do, often take place. The most suitable temperature for fermentation varies according to the type of wine.

In the case of See also:

Rhine wines it is between 20 and 25° C. If the temperatures rise above this, the fermentation is liable to be too rapid, too much alcohol is formed at a relatively See also:early See also:stage, and the result is that the fermentation ceases before the whole of the sugar has been transformed. Wines which have received a check of this description during the main fermentation are very liable to bacterial troubles and frets. In the case of wines made in more southerly latitudes temperatures between 25 and 30° are not excessive, but temperatures appreciably over 30° frequently See also:lead to See also:mischief. The See also:young wine immediately after the cessation of the main fermentation is very differently constituted from the must from which it was derived. The sugar, as we have seen, has disappeared, and alcohol, glycerin and other substances have been formed. At the same time the acidity is markedly reduced. This reduction of acidity is partly due to the deposition of various salts of tartaric acid, which are less soluble in a dilute alcoholic See also:medium than in water, and partly to the action of micro-organisms. Young wines differ very widely in their See also:composition according to class and vintage. The alcohol in naturally fermented wines may vary between 7 and 16%, although these are not the outside limits. The acidity may vary between 0.3 and 1 % according to circumstances. The normal proportion of glycerin varies between 7 and 14 parts for every See also:loo parts of alcohol in the wine, but even these limits are frequently not reached or exceeded.

The total solid matter or " See also:

extract," as it is called, will vary between 1.5 and 3'5% for dry wines, and the mineral matter or ash generally amounts to about one-tenth of the " extract." The tannin in young red wines may amount to as much as 0.4 or o•5 %, but in See also:white wines it is much less. The amount of volatile acid should be very small, and, except in special cases, a percentage of volatile acid exceeding o•1 to 0.15%, according to the class of wine, will indicate that an abnormal or undesirable fermentation has taken place. As the wine matures the most noticeable feature in the first instance is the reduction in the acidity, which is mainly due to a deposition of tartar, and the disappearance of tannin and colouring matter, due to fining and the action of See also:oxygen. The See also:taste and bouquet of wines in the earlier stages of their development, or within the first four or five years of the vintage, are almost entirely dependent upon constituents derived from the must, either directly or as a result of the main fermentation. In the case of dry wines, the quality which is known as " See also:body " (See also:palate-fulness) is mainly dependent on the solid, i.e. non-volatile, constituents. These comprise gummy and albuminous matters, acid, salts, glycerin and other matters of which we have so far little knowledge. The apparent " body " of the wine, however, is not merely dependent upon the See also:absolute quantity of solid—non-volatile—matters it contains, but is influenced also by the relative proportions in whichthe various constituents exist. For instance, a wine which under favourable conditions would seem full and See also:round may appear harsh or rough, merely owing to the fact that it contains a small quantity of suspended tartar, the latter causing temporary hyper-acidity and apparent " greenness." It has been found by experience also that wines which are normally constituted as regards the relative proportions of their various constituents, provided that the quantities of these do not fall below certain limits, are likely to develop well, whereas wines which, although perfectly See also:sound, show an abnormal constitution, will rarely turn out successful. The bouquet of young wines is due principally to the compound esters which exist in the juice or are formed by the See also:primary fermentation. It was at one time thought that the quality of the bouquet was dependent upon the absolute quantity of these compound esters present, but the author and others have plainly shown that this is not the case. Among the characteristic esters present in wine is the well-known " oenanthic See also:ether," which consists principally of ethylic pelargonate. It does not follow that a wine which shows a See also: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 See also:

bottle or in cask, is an exceedingly interesting operation. The wines which remain for a See also: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. As a rule, wines which are kept for many years in cask become very dry, and the loss of alcohol by evaporation—particularly in the case of See also:light wines—has as a result the See also:production of acidity by oxidation. Although these old wines may contain absolutely a very large quantity of acid, they may not appear acid to the palate inasmuch as the other constituents, particularly the glycerin and gummy matters, will have likewise increased in relative quantity to such an extent as to hide the acid flavour. In the case of maturation in bottle the most prominent features are the mellowing of the somewhat hard taste associated with new wine and the development of the secondary bouquet. The softening effect of See also:age is due to the deposition of a See also:part of the tartar together with a part of the tannin and some of the colouring matter. The mechanism of the development of the secondary bouquet appears to be dependent firstly on purely chemical processes, principally that of oxidation, and secondly on the life activity of certain micro-organisms. L. See also:Pasteur filled See also:glass tubes entirely with new wine and then sealed them up. It was found that wine so treated remained unchanged in taste and flavour for years. On the other hand, he filled some other tubes partly with wine, the remaining space being occupied by See also:air.

In this case the wine gradually matured and acquired the properties which were associated with age. Wortmann examined a number of old wines and found that in all cases in which the wine was still in good See also:

condition or of See also:fine character a small number of living organisms (yeast cells, &c.) were still present. He also found that in the case of old wines which had frankly deteriorated, the presence of micro-organisms could not be detected. It is, how-ever, not absolutely clear whether the improvement observed on maturation is actually due to the action of these micro-organisms. It may be that the conditions which are favourable to the improvement of the wine are also favourable to the continued existence of the micro-organisms, and that their disappearance is coincident with, and not the cause of, a wine's deterioration. It is frequently assumed that a wine is necessarily good because it is old, and that the quality of a wine increases indefinitely with age. This is, however, a very mistaken See also:idea. There is a period in the life See also:history of every wine at which it attains its maximum of quality. This period as a rule is See also:short, and it then commences " to go back " or deteriorate. The age at which a wine is at its best is by no means so See also:great as is popularly supposed. This age naturally depends upon the character of the wine and on the vintage. Highly alcoholic wines, such as See also:port and See also:sherry, will improve and remain good for a much longer period than relatively light wines, such as See also:claret, See also:champagne or Moselle.

As regards the latter, indeed, it is nowadays held that it is at its best within a very short period of the vintage, and that when the characteristic slight " prickling " taste due to carbonic acid derived from the secondary fermentation has disappeared, the wine has lost its attraction for the See also:

modern palate. In the same way champagne rarely, if ever, improves after twelve to fourteen years. With regard to claret it may be said that as a See also:general rule the wine will not improve after twenty-five to See also:thirty years, and that after this time it will commence to deteriorate. At the same time there are exceptional cases in which claret may be found in very fine condition after a See also:lapse of as much as See also:forty years, but even in such cases it will be found that for every bottle that is good there may be one which is distinctly inferior. DISEASES Diseases of the See also:Vine.—The vine is subject to a number of diseases some of which are due to micro-organisms (moulds, bacteria), others to See also:insect life. The most destructive of all these diseases is that of the See also:phylloxera. The Phylloxera vastatrix is an insect belonging Cu the See also:green See also:fly tribe, which destroys the roots and leaves of the growing plant by forming See also:galls and nodosities. Practically every wine-growing See also:country has been afflicted with this disease at one time or 720 another. The great epidemic in the See also:French vineyards in the years 1882 to 1885 led to a reduction of the yield of about 50 %. Many remedies for this disease have been suggested, including total submersion of the vineyards, the use of See also:carbon bisulphide for spraying, and of See also:copper salts, but there appears to be little doubt that a really serious epidemic can only be dealt with by systematic destruction of the vines, followed by replanting with resistant varieties. This, of course, naturally leads to the production of a wine somewhat different in character to that produced before the epidemic, but this difficulty may be overcome to some extent, as it was in the See also:Bordeaux vineyards, by grafting See also:ancient stock on the roots of new and resistant vines. Oidrum or See also:mildew is only second in importance to the phylloxera.

It is caused by a See also:

species of See also:mould which lives on the green part of the plant. The leaves shrivel, the plant ceases to grow, and the grapes that are formed also shrivel and See also:die. The most effective cure, short of destruction and replantation, appears to be spraying with finely divided See also:sulphur. Another evil, which is caused by unseasonable weather during and shortly after the flowering, is known as coulure. This causes the See also:flowers, or at a later period the young See also:fruit, to fall off the growing plant in large See also:numbers. Diseases of Wine.—These are numerous, and may be derived either directly from the vine, from an abnormal constitution of the grape juice, or to subsequent infection. Thus the disease known as tourne or casse is generally caused by the wine having been made or partly made from grapes affected by mildew. The micro-organism giving rise to this disease generally appears in the See also:form of small jointed rods and tangled masses under the See also:microscope. Wine which is affected by this disease loses its See also:colour and flavour. The colour in the case of red wines is first altered from red to See also:brown, and in See also:bad cases disappears altogether, leaving an almost colourless See also:solution. This disease is also caused by the wine lacking alcohol, acid and tannin, and to the presence of an excess of albuminous matters. The most See also:common disease to which wine is subject by infection is that caused by a micro-organism termed mycoderma-vini (French fleurs de vin).

This micro-organism, which resembles See also:

ordinary yeast cells in See also:appearance, forms a pellicle on the See also:surface of wine, particularly when the latter is exposed to the air more than it should be, and its development is favoured by lack of alcohol. The micro-organism splits up the alcohol of the wine and some of the other constituents, forming carbonic acid and water. This See also:process indicates a very intensive form of oxidation inasmuch as no intermediary acid is formed. One of the most common diseases, namely that producing acetous fermentation, differs from the disease caused by M. vini in that the alcohol is transformed into acetic acid. It is caused by a micro-organism termed Mycoderma aceti, which occurs in wine in small See also:groups and chaplets of round cells. It is principally due to a lack of alcohol in the wine or to lack of acidity in the must. The micro-organism which causes the disease of bitterness (amer) forms longish branched filaments in the wine. Hand in hand with the development of a disagreeable See also:bitter taste there is a precipitation of colouring matter and the formation of certain disagreeable secondary constituents. This disease is generally caused by infection and is favoured by a lack of alcohol, acid and tannin. Another disease which generally occurs only in white wines is that which converts the wine into a thick stringy liquid. It is the viscous or graisse disease. As a rule this disease is due to a lack of tannin (hence its more frequent occurrence in white wines).

The mannitic disease, which is due to high temperatures during fermentation and lack of acid in the must, is rarely of serious consequence in temperate countries. The micro-organism splits up the laevulose in the must, forming mannitol and different acids, particularly volatile acid. The wine becomes turbid and acquires a peculiarly bitter sweet taste, and if the disease goes further becomes quite undrinkable. It would appear from the researches of the author and others that the mannitol ferment is more generally present in wines than is supposed to be the case. Thus the author found in some very old and fine wines very appreciable quantities of mannitol. In these cases the mannitic fermentation had obviously not See also:

developed to any extent, and small quantities of mannitol appear to exercise no prejudicial effect on flavour. Treatment of Diseases.—It was found by Pasteur that by See also:heating wine out of contact with air to about 66° C. the various germs causing wine maladies could be checked in their action or destroyed. The one disadvantage of this method is that unless very carefully applied the normal development of the wine may be seriously retarded. In the case of cheap wines or of wines which are already more or less mature, this is not a matter of any great importance, but in the case of the finer wines it may be a serious See also:consideration. Pasteurizing alone, however, will only avail in cases where the disease has not gone beyond the initial stages, inasmuch as it cannot restore colour, taste or flavour where those have already been affected. In such cases, and also in others where pasteurizing is not applicable, some See also:direct treatment with a view to eliminating or adding constituents which are in excess or lacking is indicated. In this regard it is somewhat difficult to draw the See also:line between that which is a rational and scientific method for preventing See also:waste of good material and sophistication pure and simple.

It appears to the author, how-ever, that where such methods are employed merely with a view to overcoming a specific malady and there is no intention of increasing[WINES OF See also:

FRANCE the quantity of the wine for purposes of gain, or of giving it a fictitious appearance of quality, these operations are perfectly justifiable and may be compared to the modifications of See also:procedure which are forced upon the brewer or distiller who has to deal with somewhat abnormal raw material. It has been found, for instance, that in the case of the mannitic disease the action of the micro-organism may be checked, or prevented altogether, by bringing the acidity of the must up to a certain level by the addition of a small quantity of tartaric acid. Again, it is well known that in the case of the viscous disease the difficulty may be overcome by the addition of a small quantity of tannin. In the same way the disease caused by the mildew organism may be counteracted by a slight addition of alcohol and tannin. One method of assisting nature in wine-making, which is, in the See also:opinion of the author, not justifiable if the resulting product is sold as wine or in such a manner as to indicate that it is natural wine, is the process termed " gallisizing," so called from its inventor H. L. L. See also:Gall, which has been largely practised, particularly on the Rhine. The process of Gall consists in adding sugar and water in sufficient quantity to establish the percentages of free acid and sugar which are characteristic of the best years in the must obtained in inferior years. Although there is no objection to this product from a purely hygienic point of view, it is not natural wine, and the products present in the must other than sugar and acid are by this process seriously affected. Another method of dealing with inferior must, due to J. A.

C. See also:

Chaptal, consists in neutralizing excessive acid by means of powdered See also:marble, and bringing up the sugar to normal proportions by adding appropriate. amounts of this substance in a solid form. There is less objection to this process than to the former, inasmuch as it does not result in a dilution of the wine. It is scarcely necessary to say that the indiscriminate addition of alcohol and water, or of either to must or to wine, must be regarded as a reprehensible operation. Plastering.—In some countries, particularly in See also:Italy, See also:Spain and See also:Portugal, it has been and still is a common practice to add a small quantity of See also:gypsum to the fermenting must or to dust it over the grapes See also:prior to pressing. It is said that wines treated in this manner mature more quickly, and that they are more See also:stable and of better colour. It certainly appears to be the case that musts which arc plastered rarely suffer from abnormal fermentation, and that the wines which result very rarely turn acid. The main result of plastering is that the soluble tartrates in the wine are decomposed, forming insoluble tartrate of See also:lime and soluble sulphate of potash. It is held that an excess of the latter is undesirable in wine, but unless the quantity appreciably exceeds two grams per litre, no reasonable objection can be raised. Basis Wines.—Wines which are made not from fresh grape juice but from raisins or concentrated must, or similar material, are generally termed basis wines. They are prepared by adding water to the ' concentrated saccharine matter and subsequently pitching with wine yeast at an appropriate temperature. Frequently alcohol, tannin, glycerin, and similar wine constituents are also added.

If carefully prepared there is no objection to these basis wines from a hygienic point of view, although they have not the delicate qualities and stimulating effects of natural wines; unfortunately, however, these wines have in the past been vended on a large See also:

scale in a manner calculated to .deceive the consumer as to their real nature, but energetic See also:measures, which have of See also:late been taken in most countries affected by this See also:trade, have done much to mitigate the evil.

End of Article: CHEMISTRY OF

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
CHEMISTRY (formerly "chymistry"; Gr. xvµela; for d... 		[next]
CHEMNITZ

Site © 2006 - Net Industries