chaptalization love

Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In wine-making, a process of adjusting or correcting the percentages of free acid and sugar in the must of any vineyard in which, as in ‘bad years,’ the proportion has changed. Chaptal's method was to add the calculated weight of sugar and to neutralize the excessive acid by means of powdered marble. See gallization.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun the addition of sugar to grape juice in the fermentation of wine. Usually done if the grapes are thought to lack enough natural sugars for the desired alcohol content.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Named after Jean-Antoine Chaptal, who developed the process.

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Examples

  • Wines from cooler climates (read Northern Europe) tend to have lower alcohol levels (less ripe) and wine makers often resort to chaptalization to get sugar levels up to minimal standards.

    Lettie Teague in WSJ: "alcohol delivers flavors" | Dr Vino's wine blog 2010

  • There is no chaptalization (the process of adding sugar to unfermented grape must), no acidification and only natural yeasts are used.

    Roussillon: One to Watch 2010

  • He also invented “chaptalization”: In a cloudy year with little sunshine, alcohol levels in fermenting wine could be maintained by adding sugar.

    American Connections James Burke 2007

  • It is of course possible to adjust the acidity by the addition of certain compounds, which is strictly illegal in France, but interestingly the French can add sugar chaptalization to their wines to promote a good fermentation, but that practice is banned in Australia.

    At My Table 2007

  • It is of course possible to adjust the acidity by the addition of certain compounds, which is strictly illegal in France, but interestingly the French can add sugar chaptalization to their wines to promote a good fermentation, but that practice is banned in Australia.

    Archive 2007-05-01 2007

  • He also invented “chaptalization”: In a cloudy year with little sunshine, alcohol levels in fermenting wine could be maintained by adding sugar.

    American Connections James Burke 2007

  • Pichler makes a point of saying there is no fining, no concentration of the must, and no chaptalization, as these wines are, in his words, “the essence of natural winemaking.”

    The World’s Greatest Wine Estates Jr. Robert M. Parker 2005

  • The pH is remarkably high (3.87) and the natural alcohol (no chaptalization) is over 13%, so this is a surprisingly powerful offering.

    The World’s Greatest Wine Estates Jr. Robert M. Parker 2005

  • Through appropriate yield reduction, neither chaptalization nor deacidification is necessary.

    The World’s Greatest Wine Estates Jr. Robert M. Parker 2005

  • Through appropriate yield reduction, neither chaptalization nor deacidification is necessary.

    The World’s Greatest Wine Estates Jr. Robert M. Parker 2005

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