Improper Chaptalization, or Just Jammy Jam?

From Wine Spectator:

A small neighborhood grocer in Sainte-Croix-du-Mont, France, population 900, has been found guilty of selling more than 170 tons of granulated sugar, without receipts, mainly to winegrowers, over a two-year period. The French fraud squad—Direction Générale de la Concurrence, de la Consommation et de la Répression des Fraudes (DGCCRF)—caught up with Therese Solano, owner of Le Montecrucien, but the names of her clients were not disclosed. Le Montecrucien advertised sugar at “exceptional prices” on the front door (the sign has since been taken down). Solano claims the sugar was used by villagers to make jam. “Her explanation is not all credible,” argued assistant prosecutor Catherine Figerou. According to the DGCCRF, Solano sold enough sugar to satisfy the sweet tooth of a city of 10,000 for an entire year during one three-month period in 2007. “The spikes in sales can be seen at harvest time, particularly in 2007, the year the wine wasn’t as good,” observed the judge. Bordeaux’s wine estates are allowed to enrich the must during difficult vintages, but the amount is carefully controlled by the state, and there’s a tax on “enrichment.” Solano and her clients were allegedly operating below the government’s radar by dealing in sugar sacks weighing 20 kilos (44 pounds). Sugar sold in sacks weighing 25 kilos (55 pounds) or more requires an invoice with the purchaser’s name. Even at discounted prices, 170 tons provided brisk business for Solano, and her clients dodged taxes and restrictions. “She was happy. The winegrowers were happy. The only one not happy was the government,” said deputy mayor Bernard Janthieu. Meanwhile, the local wine syndicate is indignant that their little appellation of 50 winegrowers looks guilty by virtue of proximity. Syndicate president Nicolas Solane told Unfiltered that the quantity of sugar is “too enormous to only concern the winegrowers of our appellation,” which is just 40 minutes from Bordeaux. In the end, there was sweet news for Solano, however: She received a slap on the wrist—a $6,700 suspended fine.

I’m confused. The French wouldn’t do anything like that! Would they? newhere

In Sainte-Croix-du-Mont, it wouldn’t be ordinary chaptalization (to raise alcohol or extend fermentation), since the wines are akin to Sauternes. Maybe a pure sweetener?

“She was happy. The winegrowers were happy. The only one not happy was the government,”

and maybe the consumers who bought the wine.

Odd that she got in trouble at all.