Whereas Mary Poppins cheerfully proposed that a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, European wine producers would contend that a spoonful of sugar helps the alcohol levels go up. In some cases, too far up.

There are times when nature needs a hand - at the hair salon, for example - and in cool-climate wine regions where shivering vines struggle to produce fully ripened grapes, resulting in bags of sugar being heaved into the fermentation tanks. Fermentation yeasts convert the sugar to alcohol, which winemakers argue results in wine with better balance. This age-old technique is known as chaptalisation, after Napolean´s minister of agriculture, Jean-Antoine Chaptal, who advocated the practice as a means to strengthen and preserve wine. That´s certainly an improvement over the previously accepted practice, which was to add lead.

 

Chaptal did not invent this alcohol-boosting technique; ancient records show Roman winemakers routinely added honey to fermenting grapes even though they didn´t understand the mechanics of fermentation. Burgundy, Alsace and Champagne have long added sugar to elevate alcohol levels. Bordeaux used to chaptalise but recent viticultural advances have led to greater ripeness in the vineyards so the process is becoming increasingly uncommon. Highly admired Chateau Cheval Blanc chaptalises only in difficult years, such as 1992, 1997 and 1998, and even then only a portion of the harvest.

In Europe, chaptalisation is regulated by climatic zones; the cooler the wine region, the more generous the sugar allowance. Alcohol levels can be raised up to 2.5 per cent in most of France and 3.5 per cent in most of Germany. Chaptalisation is not allowed in Spain, Italy and warm southern France.

The timing of chaptalisation is in the winemaker´s magic carpetbag of tricks. Some producers believe adding the sugar in daily doses rather than all at once can extend the fermentation period, which encourages greater extraction of colour and flavour from the grape skins. Add the sugar too early and the fermentation can get too hot. Most winemakers use cane sugar, though beet sugar, corn syrup or concentrated grape juice can also be used. The alcohol derived from added sugars tastes the same as the alcohol from grape sugars but, if over-chaptalised, the wine will taste unbalanced, especially when there is insufficient fruit concentration.

Critics of chaptalisation argue that the process encourages winemakers to let vines overproduce high yields of fruit that cannot fully ripen. This is no small matter. At the turn of last century, winemakers in France´s Languedoc region protested that chaptalisation produced "artificial wines", leading to an oversupply. The issue became so volatile in 1907 that more than 900,000 protesters demanded government action, with riots resulting in the death of five demonstrators in a clash with the army. In response, additive limits were set and sugar taxes increased. Even today, the issue remains contentious, with the European Union´s agriculture commissioner recently proposing a ban on chaptalisation in an effort to reform Europe´s wine sector.

Proponents of chaptalisation argue that wines fermented in open vats can lose up to one degree of alcohol to evaporation, a loss that needs to be offset with sugar additions. Other winemakers argue it is simply a matter of style and balance. The higher alcohol levels bring out the fruit intensity and increase perceived fullness, which as the world´s most eccentric nanny might suggest, helps the wine go down "in a most delightful way".