02/06/08 Chaptalization

Welcome to Vine to Wine this is your host Linda Moran. Yesterday I promised that today we would discuss the process known as chaptalization of wine. Chaptalization is the process of adding sugar to unfermented grape juice to boost the percentage of alcohol after the juice is fermented. The Romans were doing it without even realizing it when they added honey to their winemaking process to give it added body. The contemporary creator or inventor of the technique was Jean Antoine Chaptal  for whom it was named. The process does not add flavor because it doesn't make the wine sweeter, it only increase the alcohol level. It is actually a way to cover the flaws and high acidity of unripe grapes. Control of this practice is strict in most countries and is confined to those growing zones in which the grapes do not achieve optimum ripening. In most of the fine winemaking regions of Europe it is not at all the practice. Although it is permitted in the production of Champagne and sparkling wines In warm regions where over ripening is a concern and it does happen occasionally - the opposite takes place and acidification is the technique used to create balance to the high levels of sugar. We do not practice chaptalization in the United States other than in the production of Sparkling wines. Remember to send your wine questions to Linda at vine to wine dot net and thank you for joining me on today's Vine to Wine.