DukeRiley
McMinnville, OR
Barrel Racker
Posts:1952
 | | 04/16/2003 2:27 PM |
| In an earlier post, Jones talked about Ramonet both acidifying and chaptalizing. In my experience in Oregon (at least with Pinot Noir), winemakers will occasionally chaptalize, usually in a bad year, and very rarely acidify (I talked to one winemaker who was thinking about it for part of his 2002s).
What do winemakers in California do with Pinot? When I see alcohol levels in the mid-14s to 15%, I've got to think there's some serious acidifying going on. If acid is added, what type, when and how much? | |
Heater Allen Brewing
www.heaterallen.com | |
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Joseph Bembry
Wine Lover
Posts:4834
| | 04/16/2003 2:43 PM |
| Not sure about acififying, but I know CA producers can't chaptalize.
jb | | | |
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DukeRiley
McMinnville, OR
Barrel Racker
Posts:1952
| | 04/16/2003 2:52 PM |
| | I don't think there is normally a need to chaptalize, but that brings up another question. Can winemakers in California add grape juice concentrate to the must? | |
Heater Allen Brewing
www.heaterallen.com | |
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ChangeMe
Master of Wine
Posts:11169
| | 04/16/2003 3:05 PM |
| | I could have sworn chaptalization was illegal in France. | | | |
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skwid
Wine Connoisseur
Posts:5452
| | 04/16/2003 4:37 PM |
| | I believe it is illegal to chaptalize in France but it is legal to acidify. In California (and perhaps the USA) it is the opposite. This is kind of odd in that CA typically has all the ripeness it needs and could use more acidity and France is the opposite. | | | |
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DukeRiley
McMinnville, OR
Barrel Racker
Posts:1952
| | 04/16/2003 4:42 PM |
| | It is legal to chaptalize in France, at least it is in Burgundy. There are rules as to how much sugar you can add (depending on the year) and how you add it (these are largely ignored). I don't know about other areas. | |
Heater Allen Brewing
www.heaterallen.com |
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skwid
Wine Connoisseur
Posts:5452
| | 04/16/2003 4:44 PM |
| | My understanding (this from a French Negotiant) was that chaptaliztion was not legal in France but everyone ignored this legality. I remember this because he was trying to figure out which way things were in the USA and they were the opposite of France. Thus the comment in my post above. | | | |
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Eric White
San Ramon, CA
Advanced Sommelier
Posts:9054
| | 04/16/2003 4:45 PM |
| | Actually, I thought that in California it was legal to chaptalize with sugar, but oddly enough it was not legal to do so with grape must. I don't recall where I heard this, so I could certainly be wrong... | | | |
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Eric White
San Ramon, CA
Advanced Sommelier
Posts:9054
| | 04/16/2003 4:51 PM |
| Wow, a quick search of the ATF web site reveals the following:
§24.177 Chaptalization (Brix adjustment).
"In producing natural grape wine from juice having a low sugar content, pure dry sugar or concentrated grape juice may be added before or during fermentation to develop alcohol. In producing natural fruit wine from juice having a low sugar content, sugar, or concentrated juice of the same kind of fruit may be added before or during fermentation to develop alcohol. The quantity of sugar or concentrated juice added may not raise the original density of the juice above 25 degrees Brix. If grape juice or grape wine is ameliorated after chaptalization, the quantity of pure dry sugar added to juice for chaptalization will be included as ameliorating material. If fruit juice or fruit wine is ameliorated after chaptalization, pure dry sugar added under this section is not considered as ameliorating material. However, if fruit juice or fruit wine is ameliorated after chaptalization and liquid sugar or invert sugar syrup is used to chaptalize the fruit juice, the volume of water contained in the liquid sugar or invert sugar syrup will be included as ameliorating material."
Reference | | | |
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ChangeMe
Master of Wine
Posts:11169
| | 04/16/2003 4:59 PM |
| | If somebody tells me they are 100% that chaptalization is legal in Burgundy, I guess I'll believe it, but until then, I'm pretty sure it's illegal. | | | |
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DukeRiley
McMinnville, OR
Barrel Racker
Posts:1952
| | 04/16/2003 5:04 PM |
| | I've got the book (Kramer's Making Sense Out Of Burgundy) I read it in at home. I'll post the quote this afternoon/evening unless this gets resolved before then. | |
Heater Allen Brewing
www.heaterallen.com | |
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DukeRiley
McMinnville, OR
Barrel Racker
Posts:1952
| | 04/16/2003 10:40 PM |
| Kramer's "Making Sense of Burgundy" has three pages on chaptalization (pp 68-70). He states, "French law generously allows for a maximum of two degrees, but any level of chaptalization supposedly can be performed only after petitioning the authorities just before harvest. The law requires each producer to file a declaration of intent and wait for permission. Permission is granted without fail every year in Burgundy (and in Bordeaux as well  ), even in such ultraripe vintages as 1976 and 1989."
From Hanson's "Burgundy" (pg 118), "The practice of adding sugar to grape-must when sunless summers have failed to ripen the fruit completely is very old. The monks of Citeaux, for instance, were adding small pieces of white sugar to light wines in the late eighteenth century. Unfortunately chaptalization...is often overdone..."
Also, on acidification from Hanson (pg 121), "One of the most serious problems in Burgundy at present is that the red wines often lack sufficient acidity. The prime cause, as we have seen, is that too much potassium fertilizer has been...spread on the vineyards." and from page 122, "In the short term, Burgundian technocrats are calling for permission from the Common Market to add tartic acid, even in years when they have chaptalized ."
Italics and graemlins are mine. "Making Sense of Burgundy" was published in 1990 and "Burgundy" was published in 1995. | |
Heater Allen Brewing
www.heaterallen.com | |
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Jeremy Matthew
Barrel Sampler
Posts:2067
| | 04/16/2003 11:10 PM |
| | I can understand why you might chapitalise in Burgundy, but why would you in California? Even in poorer vintages the grapes are often ripe enough to produce reasonable fruit- sure not the big power houses of better years but certainly still good wine. | | | |
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Joseph Bembry
Wine Lover
Posts:4834
| | 04/17/2003 12:17 AM |
| I can tell you that it is legal to chaptalize in Burgundy. You need to get permission to do so, but it is done with regularity.
jb | | | |
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ChangeMe
Master of Wine
Posts:11169
| | 04/17/2003 12:11 PM |
| I stand corrected. | | | |
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ChangeMe
Grape Destemmer
Posts:89
| | 04/18/2003 1:43 AM |
| Wineries in CA can do both (chaptalize & acidify). I assume it would be up to the winemaker on why but I could see why adding acid could be a good thing for a slightly off balance wine and why a particular batch of grapes that might be picked early for acidity but be low in sugar (chaptalize time).
Bass | | | |
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Bob Bressler
Napa Valley
Wine Lover
Posts:4765
| | 04/18/2003 5:07 AM |
| With Napa cabs, many winemakers now pick with ripe fruit flavor. This sometimes results in PHs up in the 3.8-3.9 range, which might need a little acid to get the wine in balance. Better than too little flavor.
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Joseph Bembry
Wine Lover
Posts:4834
| | 04/18/2003 1:32 PM |
| I was told in class last week the California producers CAN NOT chaptalize. Maybe Loring or Vitis can give us a definitive answer. Oregon can chapitalize though.
jb | | | |
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Eric White
San Ramon, CA
Advanced Sommelier
Posts:9054
| | 04/18/2003 3:13 PM |
| JB, I believe you are correct, that Chaptalization is permitted in the United States everywhere except California - though I cannot figure out who the regulatory agency is that controls this in California. According to Wine Spectator:
"Chaptalization: The addition of sugar to juice before and/or during fermentation, used to boost sugar levels in underripe grapes and alcohol levels in the subsequent wines. Common in northern European countries, where the cold climates may keep grapes from ripening, but forbidden in southern Europe (including southern France and all of Italy) and California."
(emphasis added) | | | |
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ChangeMe
Grape Truck Driver
Posts:44
| | 02/21/2005 11:57 AM |
| It is very strange that chaptalization is allowed in France even to their best wines, but in Germany it is NOT allowed widely.
”Deutscher Tafelwein, Deutscher Landwein and QbA wines may be chaptalized; Prädikat wines may not – it is illegal to do so.” (germanwine.de/english/guide/ferment.htm)
Chaptalization is allowed if potential alcohol level assumed to be less than 8,5 %. Usually for Deutscher Tafelwein and Deutscher Landwein and most often for Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete (QbA), but not allways.
In some cases it is allowed even to Kabinett.
Süssreserve
”German for "sweet reserve," referring to unfermented grape juice that's set aside to be added later to fully fermented (DRY) wines in order to achieve the desired level of sweetness. The Germans developed this technique so that winemakers don't have to be so exacting about arresting FERMENTATION in order to control RESIDUAL SUGAR. The procedure also lowers the use of sulfur dioxide (see SULFITES), which is often employed to stop fermentation. There are strict rules about using Süssreserve, including limiting its volume to 15 percent of the final wine and ensuring that its origin and quality are the same as the wine to which it's added. ”
(© Copyright Barron's Educational Services, Inc. 1995 based on THE WINE LOVER'S COMPANION, by Ron Herbst and Sharon Tyler Herbst)
”… German producers are allowed to make proper corrections to the final product, in order to make it balanced and to diminish the effects of acid, by adding little quantities of the so called süssreserve, that is grape juice produced from the same harvest, properly clarified, preserved and unfermented in order to keep its natural sweetness. Süssreserve is not being used to make a wine sweet, it is simply used in order to balance a wine and to mitigate acidity; the added quantity does not affect wine's dry taste. However, it should be noticed that süssreserve is added to wine in particular and unfavorable years only; in the best years, when the wine already has a natural balance and does not need any correction, süssreserve is not used at all. ” (diwinetaste.com)
To my knowledge, it is allowed to add süssreserve for any level of wine, but it must be at least same quality as the grape juice of the particular wine. There is no big deal to use it for your cheapest wines. Or to your most expensive.
The german wine law is quite difficult to understand, so there is a chance that I’ve misstaken some point … | | | |
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