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Sprites

The term (also used for spritzing) for the addition of mostly pure alcohol to grape must or wine. The term is derived from sprit (spirit) or esprit (French for spirit). However, the term spriting is not defined in wine law; the relevant legal texts always refer to the "addition of alcohol". This form of winemaking has a long tradition, particularly in southern countries such as Italy, France, Greece, Portugal and Spain, and was used in the past primarily to preserve the wine, especially for long voyages. This is why it is also known as fortification. If this is done during fermentation, it is stopped prematurely and a correspondingly high proportion of residual sugar is retained, which is the main reason. In contrast to this is the enrichment of grape must with sugar in the appropriate form with the aim of increasing the alcohol yield or increasing the alcohol content.

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