ve
fermentation ceases, the new wine is drawn from the pomace and is put
into closed casks or tanks where it undergoes a secondary
fermentation, much sediment settling at the bottom of the cask. To rid
the new wine of this sediment, it must be drawn off into clean casks,
an operation called "racking." The first racking usually takes place
within a month or six weeks. A second racking is necessary at the end
of the winter and a third is desirable in the summer or fall.

The fourth stage is the aging of the wine. Before aging begins,
however, the wine usually must be rendered perfectly clear and bright
by "fining." The materials used in fining are isinglass, white of egg
or gelatine. These, introduced into the wine, cause undissolved
matters to precipitate. The wine is now ready for bottling or
consumption. Most wines acquire a more desirable flavor through
"aging," a slow oxidation in the bottles.

_Champagne._

When champagne wines have gone through their first fermentation, they
are racked off into casks to age until their quality can be
ascertained, after which a blend of several different wines is made.
This blend is called the "cuvee." The cuvee is bottled and a second
fermentation starts. The bottles are now put in cool cellars, corded
in horizontal layers with thin strips of wood between each layer of
bottles. The champagne in this stage is said to be in "tirage." The
carbonic acid gas generated at this second fermentation is confined in
the bottles and absorbed by the wine. When the bottle is uncorked, the
gas, seeking to escape, produces the sparkling effect desirable in
sparkling wines. After the wine has been in tirage for one or two
years, the bottles are placed in A-shaped racks, the neck of the
bottle pointing downward so that the sediment formed during
fermentation drops to the cork. To further the settling of the
sediment, workmen turn or shake each bottle daily for a period of one
to three months. The bottles are then taken to the finishing room,
cork down and the wine is "disgorged." Disgorging is accomplished by
freezing a small quantity of wine in the neck of the bottle containing
the sediment, after which the cork is removed and with it the frozen
sediment. The bottle is refilled, recorked, wired, capped, and the
champagne is ready for shipment.

_The vintage._

The wine-making season the world over is known as the "vintage." The
time at which the vintage begins depends, of course, on the regi