Word of the Day Archive
Monday August 8, 2011
chaptalize \SHAP-tuh-lahyz\
, verb:
To increase the alcohol in a wine by adding sugar.
A proprietor who chaptalizes juice or ameliorates juice or wine, or both, shall maintain a record of the operation and the transaction date.
-- U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 27, Alcohol, Tobacco Products
They chaptalize, they blend, fudge their appellations, water down with lesser stuff.
-- Peter Lewis, Dead in the Dregs: A Babe Stern Mystery
Chaptalize comes from the French chaptaliser, which is in turn named for the French chemist J. A. Chaptal.
Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for chaptalize
