Chaptalization in the context of "Sugars in grape juice"

Play Trivia Questions online!

or

Skip to study material about Chaptalization in the context of "Sugars in grape juice"

Ad spacer

⭐ Core Definition: Chaptalization

Chaptalization is the process of adding sugar to unfermented grape must in order to increase the alcohol content after fermentation. The technique is named after its developer, the French chemist Jean-Antoine-Claude Chaptal. This process is not intended to make the wine sweeter, but rather to provide more sugar for the yeast to ferment into alcohol.

Chaptalization has generated controversy and discontent in the French wine industry due to advantages that the process is perceived to give producers in poor-climate areas. In response to violent demonstrations by protesters in 1907, the French government began regulating the amount of sugar that can be added to wine.

↓ Menu

>>>PUT SHARE BUTTONS HERE<<<

👉 Chaptalization in the context of Sugars in grape juice

Sugars in wine are at the heart of what makes winemaking possible. During the process of fermentation, sugars from wine grapes are broken down and converted by yeast into alcohol (ethanol) and carbon dioxide. Grapes accumulate sugars as they grow on the grapevine through the translocation of sucrose molecules that are produced by photosynthesis from the leaves. During ripening the sucrose molecules are hydrolyzed (separated) by the enzyme invertase into glucose and fructose. By the time of harvest, between 15 and 25% of the grape will be composed of simple sugars. Both glucose and fructose are six-carbon sugars but three-, four-, five- and seven-carbon sugars are also present in the grape. Not all sugars are fermentable, with sugars like the five-carbon arabinose, rhamnose and xylose still being present in the wine after fermentation. Very high sugar content will effectively kill the yeast once a certain (high) alcohol content is reached. For these reasons, no wine is ever fermented completely "dry" (meaning without any residual sugar). Sugar's role in dictating the final alcohol content of the wine (and such its resulting body and "mouth-feel") sometimes encourages winemakers to add sugar (usually sucrose) during winemaking in a process known as chaptalization solely in order to boost the alcohol content – chaptalization does not increase the sweetness of a wine.

↓ Explore More Topics
In this Dossier

Chaptalization in the context of Jean-Antoine-Claude Chaptal

Jean-Antoine Chaptal, comte de Chanteloup (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ ɑ̃twan ʃaptal]; 5 June 1756 – 29 July 1832) was a French chemist, physician, agronomist, industrialist, statesman, educator and philanthropist.

Chaptal was involved in early industrialization in France under Napoleon and during the Bourbon Restoration. He was a founder and the first president of the Society for the Encouragement of National Industry. He was an organizer of industrial expositions held in Paris. He compiled a study surveying the condition and needs of French industry in the early 1800s. Chaptal published practical essays on the uses of chemistry. He was an industrial producer of hydrochloric, nitric and sulfuric acids, and was sought after as a technical consultant for the manufacture of gunpowder. Chaptal published works which drew on Antoine Lavoisier's theoretical chemistry to make advances in wine-making. Chaptal promoted adding sugar to increase the final alcohol content of wines, now referred to as "chaptalization".

↑ Return to Menu