To add sugar to grape juice or wine before or during fermentation to increase the alcohol content.
From French chaptaliser, derived from the name of Jean-Antoine Chaptal, 18th-century French chemist and Minister of Interior who pioneered this wine improvement technique.
The verb 'chaptalize' is surprisingly technical and specific—very few verbs are named after a single person's innovation, making this a rare linguistic monument to one scientist's practical genius.
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