While Italy has barely finished harvesting what is generally considered a hot and early vintage, news has emerged that, against all common sense, the authorities have authorised must enrichment in practically all Italian regions.
This is the practice, sometimes called chaptalisation after Chaptal, the minister of agriculture who introduced it to France, that was regularly used in cooler wine regions pre global warming, whereby before or during fermentation cane sugar or rectified grape concentrate is added to the fermentation tank in order to increase the total alcohol in the final wine. Authorising this practice for Italy in what is considered...