Inside the book

The first part treats the choice of vineyard sites and grape varieties through climate, soil, annual cultivation, and varietal selection. Gardella compares ripening temperatures through Humboldt's observations on the plateaux of Bogota and Quito, then sets Ligurian summer maxima of 32-35 degrees Celsius against Bordeaux's lower maritime mean. The discussion of dark Ligurian varieties calls them "più abboccate e più serbevoli" (more mellow and longer-keeping) when blended from two or three "vizzati" (vineyard plots) of a single isolated variety, and turns from local practice to adulteration of the "mosto" (must), Della Casa's "Galateo," and the French falsification trade. The second part treats fermentation, yeast, grape sugar, artificial improvement of the "mosto" (must), closed vats, "svinatura" (drawing the wine off the skins), and "affinamento" (maturation). Gardella accepts Pasteur's experimental caution but rejects oxygen as the proven cause of maturation, invoking Graham's law of gas diffusion to distinguish wood from glass. The section on sulphuring compares hyposulphite, calcium persulphide, and potassium persulphate against oidium. The third part turns to export practice: "botti" (casks), "cantina" (cellar), "colmatura" (topping up), "chiarificazione" (fining), and "chauffage" (heat treatment). The "chauffage" section slows into a forensic exchange, quoting the Bercy commission's tastings of Chambertin 1859, Tavel, and Bourgogne before answering them point by point.