Must
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Must (from Latin vinum mustum or "young wine") is freshly pressed fruit juice (most commonly grape), that contains various quantities of pulp such as skins, stems, and seeds, called pomace or fruit solids, which typically comprise between 7–23 percent of the total weight of the must. These components, and the time they are allowed to be in contact with the juice, are critical to the final character of the wine.
When the winemaker judges the time to be right, the juice is drained off the pomace which is then pressed to extract the juice retained by the matrix. Yeast is added to the juice to begin the fermentation, while the pomace is often returned to the vineyard or orchard to be used as fertilizer. A portion of selected unfermented must may be kept as Süssreserve, in order to be added prior to bottling as a sweetening component.
Some winemakers create a second batch of wine from the used pomace by adding a quantity of water equivalent to the juice removed, letting the mixture sit for 24 hours, and draining off the liquid. This wine may be used as a drink for the employees of the winemaker or as a basis for grappa.
Must was commonly used as a cooking ingredient in ancient Rome. It was boiled down in lead or bronze kettles into a milder concentrate called defrutum or a stronger concentrate called sapa. It was often used as a souring agent and preservative, especially in fruit dishes. Geochemist Jerome Nriagu published an article in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1983 hypothesizing that defrutum and sapa may have contained enough lead acetate to be of danger to those who consumed it regularly.
This term is also used by meadmakers for the unfermented honey-water mixture that becomes mead. The analogous term in beer brewing is wort.
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[edit] Must in Christian liturgy
In Roman Catholic liturgy, must may be substituted for sacramental wine, on condition that the ordinary has granted permission for the benefit of a priest or lay person who has difficulty, usually because of alcoholism, in ingesting wine; but in normal circumstances it may not be used in place of wine.[1]
This teaching goes back at least to Pope Julius I (337-352), who is quoted in Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologica as having declared that in case of necessity, but only then, juice pressed from a grape could be used. Aquinas himself declared that it is forbidden to offer fresh must in the chalice, because this is unbecoming owing to the impurity of the must; but he added that in case of necessity it may be done.[2]
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Further information from the USCCB's Committee on Divine Worship
- Further information from the Liturgy Office of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales
[edit] References
- Ron Herbst and Sharon Tyler Herbst; Wine Lover's Companion; Barron's; ISBN 0-8120-1479-0 (paperback, 1995)
- Marian W. Baldy, Ph.D.; The University Wine Course - A Wine Appreciation Text & Self Tutorial, 2nd Edition; The Wine Appreciation Guild; ISBN 0-932664-69-5 (paperback, 1995)
- John Whittaker; Winemaking; Lone Pine Publishing; ISBN 1-55105-030-7 (paperback, 1994)
- Jerome O. Nriagu; Saturnine Gout Among Roman Aristocrats: Did Lead Poisoning Contribute to the Fall of the Empire?; New England Journal of Medicine 308(11):660-3, 1983 Mar 17.;
- Ilaria G. Giacosa; A Taste of Ancient Rome; University of Chicago Press; ISBN 0-226-29032-8 (paperback, 1994)
