I have a batch of freshly crushed touriga grapes, that I plan to turn into a port. It has an initial brix level of about 25, but I'm planning on adding enough sugar to get the alcohol level up to the limit of the yeast that I'm using (about 18%). When I compute the amount of sugar to add, should I base it on the expected volume of the finished wine, or should I base it on the volume of the current must (which obviously contains seeds, skins, etc.
a question about chaptalization
Sep 29, 2009
1 Replies
i love touriga and use it in my own ports when available.
to raise the alcohol by adding sugar is an interesting proposition. are you not going to add brandy to raise the alcohol? but, adding sugar during fermentation is a daily process. pitch the yeast, start the fermentation process. watch it closely, test daily, as the sugar starts to come down, stir in a small amount. watch as the fermentation takes off again. when it slows down, add more sugar. this is affectionately known as the continuous fermentation process. keep going till the yeast just gives out.
taste, measure, add brandy (from grapes) to raise alcohol level as desired, and add sugar to taste.
ted
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