Last month, while discussing dessert wines, I mentioned the word chaptalization (chap-tuh-lie-zay-shun). Many of you asked what is it. OK, let’s talk about it.
In order to ferment wine, you need two things: sugar and yeast. Wine grapes contain natural sugars. When grapes are harvested, the winemaker is looking for about 20 to 22% sugar content (Brix) in the juice. When it comes into contact with either natural yeasts or wild yeasts, it will ferment and turn it into alcohol.
When fermentation stops, either through intervention or because the yeast runs out of sugars to ferment, the ABV tends to be fairly low. At a 20% Brix, you end up with a wine with an alcohol level of about 11%. Perfect for lighter white wines and Rosé, but on the low end for reds.
Enter chaptalization.
Named after Jean-Antoine-Claude Chaptal, the French chemist who invented the process in the 1800s. Chaptalization, in simple terms, is the process of adding sugar to the pressed grapes (must) before fermentation even begins in order to increase the alcohol content.
The technique of adding sugar to the must has been part of the process of winemaking since the Romans added honey as a sweetening agent.
Adding a specific amount of sugar to the must (freshly crushed grapes) in order to raise the Brix provides the yeast with more sugar to convert into higher alcohol.
When sugar is added to the must, naturally occurring enzymes break down the sucrose molecules in sugar into glucose and fructose, which are then easily fermented by the yeast and converted into a higher alcohol content of 14% or more.
This process does not make the wine sweeter.
The sugar most commonly used is cane sugar. (not your everyday white sugar.)Winemakers can also use beet sugar or corn syrup.
In some cases, winemakers may add grape concentrate for the same purpose, although this isn’t considered chaptalization, and it is legal even in regions where chaptalization is not. Then, the wine is allowed to ferment as normal until all the sugar has been consumed by the yeast and turned into alcohol.
Control of chaptalization is strictly regulated in many countries, and generally only permitted in cooler and more northerly areas where grapes might not ripen fully.
Chaptalization is flat-out outlawed in several regions, including California, Argentina, and South Africa; however, grape concentrate may be added.
It is actually legal in some regions of the United States, including Tennessee, Washington, Oregon and the upper Midwest and Northeast and certain parts of France, Germany, Austria and elsewhere in Northern Europe.
According to wine expert Jim Clarke, “Only in the coolest, most northerly winegrowing regions of Europe, producers can legally use sugar to increase the alcohol content of their wines, but by no more than 3.5%.”
The truth be known, winemakers use all sorts of tricks to make sure their wine tastes good, and that it tastes good year after year, regardless of external factors, like weather, that might affect a particular harvest.
But don’t freak out about chaptalization, chances are, you have already drunk plenty of chaptalized wines and didn’t even know it.
Besides, there are crazier things added to wine like sulfites, acidifiers, gelatin, mega-purple, preservatives and other stuff to stabilize the wine. Sometimes, fining and clarifying agents are used to filter the wine; you don’t even want to begin to know what those are.
In the United States, more than 75 winemaking additives are approved by the FDA. These additives give winemakers total control over nearly every part of the winemaking process. But wine producers are not required to disclose them, so you have no idea what is actually in your wine.
Since 1990, the FDA has made the ingredient lists mandatory for virtually every consumable food, cosmetic and personal care products made. But because wine is not considered food but an alcohol product, it is under the ATFE guidelines, and taxed as such, the government does not require producers to disclose those ingredients.
However, there are three warnings that are required by law. One is ‘’contains sulfites.’’ But even that labeling doesn’t mean much, because virtually every wine made in the world contains some amount of sulfites; they are naturally occurring in the winemaking process.
The other states that ‘’drinking during pregnancy can cause birth defects, ’and third, ‘’alcohol consumption may impair driving and cause other health problems.’’
But the number one ingredient you need to worry about is the alcohol.
Consult with your doctor before drinking alcohol. Do not drink and drive. If alcohol is affecting your way of life, please seek professional help.
Chris