Sugars in wine as chaptalization solely in order to boost the alcohol content – chaptalization does not increase the "sweetness" of a wine. Glucose, along with fructose, is one of the primary sugars found in wine grapes. In wine, glucose tastes less sweet than fructose. It is a six-carbon sugar molecule derived from the breakdown of sucrose. At the beginning of the ripening stage there is usually more glucose than fructose present in the grape (as much as five times more) but the rapid development of fructose shifts the ratio to where at harvest there are generally equal amounts. Grapes that are over
Ripeness in viticulture .75 TA will have almost a 30:1 Brix:TA ratio. According to the Davis researchers, the most balanced table wines tend to have a Brix to TA ratio between 30:1 - 35:1. Another method is to multiply the pH reading by itself and then multiply that number by the Brix reading. Using this method, when white wine grapes gets close to 200 and red wine grapes close to 260, it can be a good rule of thumb of when to harvest. For example, white wine grapes have a pH of 3.3 and Brix of 20, after going through that formula they