Not Bdx, but WK discussed Chaptalization here
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The āstormā is about not knowing when these additions have been made, and not knowing their extent when they have been done. Whether the resulting wine is ābetterā or āworseā is a separate conversation entirely.
I brought up the topic of chaptalization in the context of 2024 Bdx., which reportedly saw widespread use of the practice. I merely found it odd that the topic hadnāt gained traction, leading me to wonder if either (1) nobody cares, or (2) itās not on folksā radars, or (3) something else.
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Iām glad I clicked on that link to learn that the ingredient most often used is āsemi-refined cane sugar,ā as my wife has been calling me that for years.
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Definitely number 1 for me Brian. Some add sugar. Some add concentrated must. Some use reverse osmosis. It describes the vintage conditions more than impacting on the wine negatively.
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My guess is that most people donāt care. They are more interested in the end result, not whether chaptalization was used to get there.
Most (all?) wouldnāt know what to do with the information if they had it. As Mark Golodetz noted above, chaptalization can be done well orā¦ not so well.
Does chaptalization specifically and reliably affect aging, or any other specific characteristic of a wine? Iām not aware of any information that it does, but would be fascinated to hear of any evidence. Without knowing if chaptalization has a reliably predictable effect on the wine or its ability to age, what are we to do with the information?
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If it was out in the open, I donāt think people would care
I would, first and foremost, want the opportunity to decide if I even want to buy that wine in the first place. For better, and possibly for worse, Iāve bought-in to the Fine Wine Marketing Machine. What do I mean by that? Iām admitting that Iāve been sold on the romantic and intellectual notions that wine reflects terroir and vintage. Chaptalization feels like an interference with those ideas, at least in the context of how I think of terroir and vintage.
Would I dismiss chaptalized wines out of hand? Likely not, at least at first. Iād try a few, and (1) see if any meaningful-to-me patterns emerge, and (2) decide if my enjoyment of the wine as-made makes my concerns disappear, or no longer feel important to me.
Bubbleheads often care about dosage; Iād venture to guess thereād be an audience who would geek-out over chaptalization, if given a robust opportunity to do so. Where would that lead? I donāt know. But Iād like to find out.
Might be interesting to approach this a different way: what are the top 5 mature Bordeaux in your personal experience? Then we can try to ascertain if whether or not they were chaptalized.
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This is my thinking as well- and here I am looking back to what happened with the 2017s which were largely absent on the shelves at release due to COVID. And so for those of us who liked them but did not buy EP, we largely had to settle for buying them later in a much stronger market and at very high prices. I never did end up getting any 2017 Mouton because I was never able to get it for a price at or below what I paid for 2015 and 2019.
Looking at pricing on some 2023 burgundies as they come out, I am seeing some price cuts, and so if it is happening there that very much portends for softness in the Bordeaux market for a while. But the problem with 2024 is that there just will not be a lot of wine coming in the early tranches that was not already purchased by clients in advance. And so while the wines will be available, it is hard to imagine the pricing being lower than it is on futures for the best wines.
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There is a book with the title āWine Myths and Realityā. While I am writing this I see the back of it in front of me as a part of my library. I think this is an interesting and educational read for everyone with a too romantic view to wine and the methods of producing it.
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The US market lacks a proper channel for Bordeaux like the UK and EU have.
Thus creating this weird void that we get with supply here. I blame the state to state legal variances, and the lack of being able to directly buy from Europe in most states.
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In the put your money where your mouth is department, Iām buying a case of Brane Cantenac for myself today. Under 600 bucks, and it was one of the highlights of Margaux for me (which itself was one of the highlight appellations on the left bank).
Also, compared to whatās on the market, itās a solid 35-40% cheaper than the 19s and 20s on the shelves and nearly 50% cheaper than the 22s.
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How about these?
1985 La Conseillante
1989 Pichon Lalande
1990 Leoville Las Cases
1985 Cheval Blanc
1982 Cheval Blanc
85 Conseillante and the 85 + 82 Cheval yes (confirmed), 89 Pichon Comtesse I assume so, 1990 LLC more likely osmosis. All really nice wines.
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I posted the info above. Historically, Bordeaux has been cooler, temperature region, on the 45th parallel. Until recent climatic shifts, most of the time, it was just a little bit warm for the white wine grapes, and just a bit too cool for the red wine grapes.
So, in many of the famous and most, if not all of the lesser or off tears growers used chaptalization.
No further questions, Your Honor.
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How about these?
2000 Pichon Baron
2000 Leoville Barton
1990 Malsescot
1989 Domaine de Chevalier
1995 Gruaud Larose
1966 LLC
2007 Haut Brion
My guess, most if not all of them had at least some parcels needing chaptalization.
I would bet money that all of those were chaptalized. Iām not going to text/email every winemaker at those estates, especially as weāre entering into a holiday week in France, but pre-2015 chaptalization was pretty ubiquitous for Cabernet in the MĆ©doc, even in ripe years and ripe terroirs (1990 Cos dāEstournel was chaptalized 1% for example). The same was true of Burgundy, including the very best estates. Of course, ingredient labelling will bring total transparency to this and any other additions/amendments. But I would say (a) that it is the other enological manipulations that you havenāt heard of that you should be focussing on (b) this isnāt the critique Iād be making of the less successful 2024 Bordeaux. As someone who has actually chaptalized a wine made from grapes they grew, hopefully I have an informed perspective! My thoughts in the Burgundy-centric thread cited above are pretty much extensible to Bordeaux, with the added emphasis that even if itās ripe a low pH Cabernet Sauvignon at 11.5% is a pretty unfriendly customerāand thatās just the nature of the variety in certain circumstancesāand an extra degree can really make the wine taste more like itself, in the same way that a pinch of salt makes a fresh tomato taste more like itself.
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This resonates with me in positive fashion. Maybe this will be my pathway for developing an acceptance of the practice.
Do you feel chaptalization, as itās used in Bdx., ever results in a wine that does not speak of the vintage, terroir, and/or producer?
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