Fortification of wine with spirits.

I came across a very interesting and educational thread whilst briefly lurking around some of the other forums, here and in the UK. The question is were old wines in France, especially Burgundy, fortified with cognac in the early 1900`s? Seems to be a hot topic at the moment. I think it is referred to as vinage?
I think it is common knowledge that some Pinot Noir was cut with other grape varieties from N Africa and S France, illegal naturally! I am not a historian but I think this is a good general question for the folks here who like a bit of history! Hope for a serious answer, there is always a lot of friendly kidding around over in the UK.

Burgundy was often illegally blended with wine from the Southern Rhone until rather recently. This was in fact a major motivation to granting AOC status to the constellation of appellations surrounding Chateauneuf-du-Pape--if they had their own AOC, their price would go up enough that they'd no longer be attractive as a cheap illicit import to Burgundy.

Back in the 1800s, Bordeaux was quite often blended with syrah from the Northern Rhone, and in fact Bordeaux that had been "Hermitaged" fetched higher prices.

One of the unfortunate side effects of the AOC laws is that they prohibit this sort of thing. Who's to say Latour might not be improved if blended with Chave Hermitage or Clape Cornas? Or that some Burgundies might not be improved with a shot of Gigondas?

Even before that, Bordeaux was vinified in a light-colored, almost rose style (claret), then blended with alicante and with a dose of brandy added before the casks were shipped to England.

So it wouldn't surprise me if, before the AOC rules went into effect, French exports got a shot of spirits.

-Paul W.

Bob,
I was intending to post a serious response until I realized I had initially mis-read the first word in the title of your post.
'Winger

Bob, I can't add much to this discussion -- the folks on eBob covered the waterfront. One allusion to chaptalization makes me doubt that adding alcohol to wine was very prevalent.

In the early 1900s vignerons in the Languedoc protested the practice. In June 1907, demonstrations broke out across the Languedoc with hundreds of thousands of protesters demanding the government take action. to prevent the manufacturing of "artificial" wine. Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau sent the French army to Narbonne, and five protesters were killed. The following day the prefecture in Perpignan. was burned. As a result, the French government increased the taxation on sugar and passed laws limiting the amount of sugar that could be added to wine. Hugh Johnson describes the protest in detail in his history of wine.

Regards, Bob