Editing Chaptalization (section)

==History==
[[Image:Jean-Antoine Chaptal.jpg|left|thumb|French chemist Jean-Antoine Chaptal]]
The technique of adding sugar to grape [[must]] has been part of the process of winemaking since the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] added [[honey]] as a sweetening agent. While not realizing the chemical components, Roman winemakers were able to identify the benefits of added sense of [[body (wine)|body]] or [[mouthfeel]].<ref name="Sogg">{{cite journal |author=Sogg, D |url=http://www.winespectator.com/Wine/Archives/Show_Article/0,1275,3567,00.html |title=Inside Wine: Chaptalization |journal=Wine Spectator |date=2002-03-31 |access-date=2007-04-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202232335/http://www.winespectator.com/Wine/Archives/Show_Article/0,1275,3567,00.html |archive-date=2008-12-02 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

While the process has long been associated with French wine, the first recorded mention of adding sugar to must in French literature was the 1765 edition of ''[[L'Encyclopedie]]'', which advocated the use of sugar for sweetening wine over the previously accepted practice of using [[lead diacetate|lead acetate]]. In 1777, the French chemist [[Pierre Macquer]] discovered that the actual chemical benefit of adding sugar to must was an increase in alcohol to balance the high acidity of [[underripe grapes]] rather than any perceived increase in sweetness. In 1801, while in the services of [[Napoleon]], Jean-Antoine-Claude Chaptal began advocating the technique as a means of strengthening and preserving wine.<ref name="Phillips pp 195-196">{{cite book |author=Phillips, R |title=A Short History of Wine |pages=[https://archive.org/details/shorthistoryofwi0000phil/page/195 195–196] |publisher=Harper Collins |year=2000 |isbn=0-06-621282-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/shorthistoryofwi0000phil/page/195}}</ref>

In the 1840s, the [[German wine]] industry was hard hit by severe weather that created considerable difficulty for harvesting ripened grapes in this cool region. A chemist named [[Ludwig Gall]] suggested Chaptal's method of adding sugar to the must to help wine makers compensate for the effects of detrimental weather. This process of ''Verbesserung'' (improvement) helped sustain wine production in the [[Mosel (wine region)|Mosel]] region during this difficult period.<ref name="Johnson p 395">{{cite book |author=Johnson, H |title=Vintage: The Story of Wine |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=1989 |isbn=0-671-68702-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/vintagestoryofwi00john/page/395 395] |url=https://archive.org/details/vintagestoryofwi00john/page/395}}</ref>

At the turn of the twentieth century, the process became controversial in the French wine industry with [[Winemaking|vigneron]]s in the [[Languedoc]] protesting the production of "artificial wines" that flooded the French wine market and drove down prices. In June 1907, huge demonstrations broke out across the Languedoc region with over 900,000 protesters demanding that the government take action to protect their livelihood. Riots in the city of [[Narbonne]] prompted Prime Minister [[Georges Clemenceau]] to send the [[French army]] to the city. The ensuing clash resulted in the death of five protesters. The following day, Languedoc sympathizers burned the [[prefecture]] in [[Perpignan]]. In response to the protests, the French government increased the taxation on sugar and passed laws limiting the amount of sugar that could be added to wine.<ref name="Phillips p 291">Phillips, 291.</ref>