Chaptalization
![In Alsace, chaptalization is often used to boost the alcohol level of Riesling grapes that have not fully ripened on the vine.](/Images/godic/202501/04/Riesling_grapes_leaves2537.jpg")
![French chemist Jean-Antoine Chaptal](/Images/godic/202501/04/Jean-Antoine_Chaptal2537.jpg")
![During fermentation, components of the sucrose molecules are converted into ethanol.](/Images/godic/202501/04/Saccharose.svg2537.png")
![Chaptalization is standard in the production of champagne.](/Images/godic/202501/04/Toasting_Champagne2537.jpg")
Chaptalization is the process of adding sugar to unfermented grape must in order to increase the alcohol content after fermentation. The technique is named after its developer, the French chemist Jean-Antoine-Claude Chaptal. This process is not intended to make the wine sweeter, but rather to provide more sugar for the yeast to ferment into alcohol.