Wine Word of the Week: Chaptalization

Inspired by this article in the San Francisco Chronicle this week, I've decided the word for the week will be chaptalization.

A relatively rare process, it is one by which the winemaker adds sugar (or honey, in the case of the ancient Romans) to fermenting wine in order to raise the alcohol level--not the sweetness. This is typically done in cool climates, where the grapes might not reach their full maturity, and thus ideal sugar levels. Without ripeness and sugars, there won't be enough material for the yeasts to convert to alcohol at the proper levels. Some winemakers say for certain vintages chaptalization is necessary to stabilize the wine--others say it can cause an imbalance. It depends on the harvest year and the climate. It's a fairly common practice in Champagne, Austria and Germany, less so in the New World, though it is used in New Zealand and Oregon.

How to use this term: to look ridiculously pompous at wine tastings. "Oh my gawd, Buffy--this Beaujolais Nouveau is 16.5 percent alcohol. They must have used chaptalization."

NB: The process is named after Jean-Antoine Chaptal, "Napoleon's minister of the interior, who gave it the French government's official endorsement and promoted it in his 1801 book 'Traite Theotique et Pratique Sur la Culture de la Vigne.'"