The works of Horace : with English notes, critical and ... - Cristo Raul

liXCUUSUa ill. PEEi 4RATI0N OF TUJu MUST. 687
ttnued in ignorance of the ait of separating the alcohol from the other
component parts of the wine, the more especially as they had occasionally
remarked the inflammability of the latter fluid ; but as no hint occurs
in their writings from which it can be infen'ed that they haj the most dis-
tant idea of such an operation, it is clear, there could be no question of
strengthening their liquors, according to the modern fashion, by the admixture,
namely, of a greater or less portion of ardent spirit. They were,
therefore, obliged to have recourse to such substances as, from theiir fragrant
odor and agreeable pungency, were most likely to impart the desired
properties, " ut odor vino contingat, et sapofis qussdam a oumina."
For this purpose it was not unusual to sprinkle a quantity of pounded
pitch or rosin on the must during the first fermentation, or, after it was
completed, to infuse the flowers of the vine, the leaves of the pine or cy-
press, bruised myrtle-berries, the shavings of cedar wood, southern wooii;
bitter almonds, and numberless other articles of a similar nature ;^ but a
more common mode of proceeding seems to have been to mix these ingredients,
in the first instance, with the defrutuvi, or inspissated must,
and boil the whole to a thick consistence, and then to add a small portion
ofthe confection to a certain quantity of the new wine. When we peruse
the receipts for this decoction which Columella has delivered, we can not
but be struck with the large proportions and potency of the substances
employed. To ninety amphorae of mustj, for example, which had been
evaporated to a third, ten sextarii of liquid Nemeturican pitch, or tar,
washed in boiled sea water, and a pound and ahalf of turpentine resin, are
directed to be added ; and the liquor being again reduced two thirds, six
pounds of crude pitch, in powder, are to be gradually mixed with it, together
with a liberal allowance of various aromatic herbs, such as spikenard,
fleur-de-lis, myirh, cardamoms, saflron, melilot, cassia, sweet-scented
flag, &o., all well bruised and sifted. Of this faiTago, Columella informs
us that he usually allotted four ounces to two amphorae, or thirteen and a
half gallons, when the vintage was watery, but in dry seasons three
ounces sufficed ; and he prudently cautions the wine-dealer not. to make
the artificial savor too palpable, lest his customers should be deterred by
it from purchasing the wine.s It was only.for the inferior wines, how
ever, that such medicaments were used; for, as the same author, in a
preceding chapter, justly remarks, "that wine which is capable of bei-ng
preserved for years without any condiment must be reckoned the best,
and nothing ought to be mixed with it by which its genuine flavor may
be corrupted and disguised ; whatever pleases by its natural qualities is
to be deemed the most choice."'
Many of the articles which enter into the above-mentioned formula, be
ing of an insoluble nature, would be gradually precipitated, and may be
considered as operating chiefly in the way of finings ; in fact, several of
them seem to have been adopted with this intention, and would, doubtless,
often answer the twofold purpose of perfuming and clarifying the
wine. But as the disorder of acescence would be apt to occur ip all
those cases where the fermentation had been allowed to exhaust itself, it
became necessary to resort to more efiectual means for checking this tendency,
and giving to the wines a proper degree of durability. With this
1. Geoponica, viL, 12, 20. 2. De Re Rustics, xU., 20. 3. Ibid., xil, 19,