Ripeness Level

[Thomas]

Ray,

You are correct that the riper a grape, the more sugar it contains, but that is not the criteria for making wine.

The criteria for making wine, to any good winemaker, is not how biologically ripe particular grapes are when harvested, but have those grapes reached the level of ripeness required to offer their individual character to a wine. Each grape variety has its own set of ripening criteria where it develops the phenolic structure needed to bring out its unique qualities. Biologically ripe (or over-ripe) grapes quite often produce inferior, flabby wines.

Measuring sugars and acids (pH) and comparing that with past history and knowledge, best determines when the grapes have reached ripeness for winemaking. Tasting them off the vine helps an experienced person too.

Sugar's essential role is to produce alcohol as a by-product of fermentation, unless you are trying to create a naturally sweet wine.

The French did not "invent" chaptalization. Mr. Chaptal gets credit for introducing the concept into some--not all--French winemaking. Mesopotamians added honey and other sweets to fermenting grapes more than 4,000 years ago.

[This message has been edited by foodie (edited 03-08-2005).]