Question:
Mark W., sugar cannot be added in southern French wines, and neitherwould you ever need to. California cannot add sugar either, for thesame reasons. However, yes, sugar can be added in limited proportionsto most French wines, Bordeaux does it all the time, so does theLoire. I happen to be in favour of natural wines, and consider addingsugar to be a form of fraud both for sweet wines and for dry, but thatis just me, I know I'll get slammed for saying this, but ANY shortcutis bad in wine... Sugaring is a procedure used in some of the greatwines of Bordeaux and Bourgogne, and I find that mildly depressing,because the only reason is $$$, lower yields would not make economicsense I guess, but my links to the wine world are emotional, that'sall.

Italy does not allow sugar, something most Italians harp on endlessly,but in fact they are allowed to add concentrated rectified grape must,which is basically the same thing, pure sugar. Oh well...

Good news for everyone, you NO LONGER NEED TO ADD SUGAR OR MCR, nowyou can cheat in a way that is totally untraceable even using NMR, youjust buy an osmosis machine or rent one for the day. There arethousands of these gadgets around in Italy and France. The good newsis that, like sugar, they will not improve a wine, just make it moreconcentrated.

Answer: Exactly, and it is done for exactly the same chemical reasons - to increasealcohol content. However in Italy, it MAY be that it is done for differentoenological reasons than in France. In France, sugar is added to increasealcohol content, because there looks as if there's little chance of thegrapes developing enough _natural_ sugar before bad weather ruins the crop.In Italy, I suspect they may feel they need to pick early in order to haveadequate acid levels and fruit balance, and then need to "bump up" thealcohol. I apply the criteria I've stated above as to whether I approve ornot. All other things being equal, if the wine is a better balanced winebecause of it, then I don't really have a great problem. After all, theyneed to sell their wines in a tough and highly competitive market. Flabbyripe wines, picked when the grapes have adequate sugar to be "legal", areno great pleasure even if they ARE traditional in some parts. One couldargue that italian wine makers should content themselves with vinifying towhatever alcohol levels result if it will allow a white wine to beagreeably balanced,but I feel that's unnecessarily autere as a policy.

I don't agree. I know you're being sarcastic, but I think your premise isincorrect in two opposed directions

- The pressures at which reverse osmosis machines run is enormous. I amuneasy as to the possibly adverse side effects of this.

- Unlike sugaring, reverse osmosis _removes water_ thus concentrating allthe elements of the wine. Sugar (the only thing increased inchaptalisation) acidity, tannins, trace-elements and everything. It mayvery well improve a wine, if that wine had been at fault in being toodilute. I think that I jib at sweet wines being concentrated by reverseosmosis, but would want to taste a range before deciding.

As for side effects, I'd make the same kind of caustious judgement as I doover genetically modified crops. I'd not want to partake until they arePROVED beyond reasonable doubt to have NO long term deleterious effect, notjust on MY organism, which is trivial, but on the entire eco-system.