Winemaker’s set

• wine dispenser
• wine set
• stum meter
• wrought iron
• engraved glass
• weight: 5.8 kg

The Klosterneuburg stum meter
The oversea-origin phylloxera louse insect, parasitizing the roots of grapevines appeared In western Europe in the early 1860s. By 1872, through the vine branch sales and winery centre of the Monarchy in Klosterneuburg, it reached Hungary too, also destroying the formerly export-ripe wine regions. As a protective measure the vines were either treated with carbon disulfide or cut down, and more resistant, direct-producing, but poorer quality grape cultivars were planted in the infestation-free areas. Thus production in a significant part of the noble grape vines ceased for decades. For this reason increasingly often stum was enriched with sugar, to enhance its alcohol content to the desired level. By then the statutory regulations allowed the sweetening of stum with sugar to a maximum of 15 degrees according to the Klosterneuburg, otherwise known as Babo’s stum meter. The grant or refusal of authorization was the responsibility of the Vincell School Directorate or the District Vine and Wine Inspectorate. According to the regulations, no more than four kilograms of sugar per hectolitre of stum was allowed under any circumstances.