quality disappears when the grape reaches a higher degree of maturity.
As it is of great importance to the regularity of the fermentation, that the grapes should be kept entire till pressed, great care should be taken not to load the baskets too heavily. In some districts, where the grapes are gathered very ripe, each vintager carries a small basket, which is emptied into large casks or tubs, placed on a cart, to be transported to the wine cellar. In Burgundy, when the wine cellar is distant from the vineyard, the grapes are pressed into casks which are closed, and thus conveyed to it; but this would be dangerous, were not the vat filled in one day. By these means, the juice of any grapes which may be crushed (and the finest are most liable to be so), is preserved. When the grapes are less ripe, large baskets are generally employed; these are placed on carts or horses, according to local circumstances. In Champagne, the baskets are carefully wrapt round with cloths, to keep out the beat of the sun, whose rays might cause a premature and unequal fermentation; they are then kept in the shade till the evening.
