Consequently the bottle,
which of course is laying on its side in the cellar, should be moved very gently,
the cork drawn without shaking the bottle if possible, the wine then poured into the
decanter through a wine strainer in which a piece of fine muslin has been placed,
and the wine must be watched as it is gently poured out, taking care to keep the
same side of the bottle uppermost as in the bin. The moment the wine has the
least appearance of being cloudy, cease pouring the wine. As long as only little
pieces of the crust come out which look transparent, and which are retained in the
strainer, and the rest of the wine pours clear, there is no fear of continuing to pour.
When, however, the wine itself is cloudy, stop instantly, or the whole bottle \n\\
fee spoiled. Recollect that port wine when not bright loses not only in appearance
but in flavour.
Port wine requires great care in keeping, as it is utterly ruined if exposed to
gi'eat cold. Port that has been exposed to severe frost gets cloudy, and never
PRINCIPLES PORT. IxXXV
properly recovers its character. The best cellars for keeping wines are those that
remain at about the same temperature all the year round. A temperature of
between 508 and 608 is very good for wuie. In fact, a good cellar strikes cold in
Slimmer and hot in winter.
One very common cause of wine being spoiled is bad corks, and I have often
wondered at it. The difference between good and indifferent coi'ks is so slight, that
spoiling wiiie from corkage reminds one of the old saying, of " spoiling a ship for the
sake of a ha-porth of tar."
In choosing corks for bottling wine, the best plan is to take a quantity up in
both hands, and smell them : should there be a peculiar musty smell, the corks are
bad, and will utterly spoil a delicate wine.
Port for ordinary every-day consumption is, as we have said, best from the
wood. Sometimes, however, a cask of port is ordered in, and after some has been
drawn off the rest is bottled. Now very much depends upon the way in which
wine is bottled. In the first place, the wine must be -perfectly bright in the cask ;
secondly, the bottles must be not only clean, but quite dry inside ; thirdly, the
wine must be well corked, the corks must fit perfectly tight, and should properly be
moistened in a little of the wine that is being bottled, and then the cork hammered
down with a wooden mallet.
It is by some supposed that the crust on port-wine bottles is the sediment of the
wine, which has been put into the bottle rather cloudy. The wine is always bottled
bright, but after bottling the wine will turn cloudy, especially in spring and
autumn, of its own accord ; a crust then settles and adheres to the bottle, and the
wine gradually matures and improves, if it is kept at an equal temperature
all the year round. Port wine, however, that has to undergo the variations of
temperature that occur in this climate will never mature at all. It is quite possible
that the fact of the barbarous custom of building most modern small houses vnthout
any wine cellars worthy of the name will do much to decrease the consumption of
port wine throughout the country.
Page 103
Presented as published in 1892. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Consequently the bottle, which of course is laying on its side in the cellar, should be moved very gently, the cork drawn without shaking the bottle if possible, the wine then poured into the decanter through a wine strainer in which a piece of fine muslin has been placed, and the wine must be watched as it is gently poured out, taking care to keep the same side of the bottle uppermost as in the bin. The moment the wine has the least appearance of being cloudy, cease pouring the wine. As long as only little pieces of the crust come out which look transparent, and which are retained in the strainer, and the rest of the wine pours clear, there is no fear of continuing to pour. When, however, the wine itself is cloudy, stop instantly, or the whole bottle will be spoiled. Recollect that port wine when not bright loses not only in appearance but in flavour.
Port wine requires great care in keeping, as it is utterly ruined if exposed to great cold. Port that has been exposed to severe frost gets cloudy, and never
PRINCIPLES PORT. IxXXV
properly recovers its character. The best cellars for keeping wines are those that remain at about the same temperature all the year round. A temperature of between 508 and 608 is very good for wine. In fact, a good cellar strikes cold in Slimmer and hot in winter.
One very common cause of wine being spoiled is bad corks, and I have often wondered at it. The difference between good and indifferent corks is so slight, that spoiling wiiie from corkage reminds one of the old saying, of " spoiling a ship for the sake of a ha-porth of tar."
In choosing corks for bottling wine, the best plan is to take a quantity up in both hands, and smell them : should there be a peculiar musty smell, the corks are bad, and will utterly spoil a delicate wine.
Port for ordinary every-day consumption is, as we have said, best from the wood. Sometimes, however, a cask of port is ordered in, and after some has been drawn off the rest is bottled. Now very much depends upon the way in which wine is bottled. In the first place, the wine must be -perfectly bright in the cask ; secondly, the bottles must be not only clean, but quite dry inside ; thirdly, the wine must be well corked, the corks must fit perfectly tight, and should properly be moistened in a little of the wine that is being bottled, and then the cork hammered down with a wooden mallet.
It is by some supposed that the crust on port-wine bottles is the sediment of the wine, which has been put into the bottle rather cloudy. The wine is always bottled bright, but after bottling the wine will turn cloudy, especially in spring and autumn, of its own accord ; a crust then settles and adheres to the bottle, and the wine gradually matures and improves, if it is kept at an equal temperature all the year round. Port wine, however, that has to undergo the variations of temperature that occur in this climate will never mature at all. It is quite possible that the fact of the barbarous custom of building most modern small houses without any wine cellars worthy of the name will do much to decrease the consumption of port wine throughout the country.