DELAVAU: Observations on Miss Gervais' winemaking apparatus, - Lot 164

Lot 164
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DELAVAU: Observations on Miss Gervais' winemaking apparatus, - Lot 164
DELAVAU: Observations on Miss Gervais' winemaking apparatus, followed by reflections on Mr. Gervais' booklet. Bordeaux, Beaume, 1821. In-8 modern bordeaux half-calf, smooth ornamented spine, golden head, untrimmed, mute cover of ep. Cons. (lined). One engraved plate. Very rare first edition. The true inventor of the so-called Mademoiselle Gervais method of winemaking is Dom Nicolas Casbois, a physics professor member of the Metz Academy. In one of his memoirs published in 1782 he said: "It is understood that the less the wine in fermentation communicates with the outside air, the less it must lose this volatile part which is its strength and which is called spirit. Therefore, to have the most generous wine, it must be fermented in perfectly closed vessels. But the fermentation produces gas, and this elastic gas would break the vessels or produce raging wine if it could not find a way out; therefore, in closing the vessels, we must make sure that the gas can come out without the outside air being able to penetrate it. There's only one valve that can do this job..." This is exactly what Mademoiselle Gervais' system is all about. This process has occupied many learned societies: It has obtained government permission to operate it...
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