table sugar and the creation of fusels

[brewboy]

I was just poking around a few wine making forums and saw some posts claiming that adding table sugar to a must (instead of all fruit juice) would lead to more fusel alcohol causing the wine to develop more of an alcoholly edge to it.

I make a lot of fruit wines by jack keller recipes and they typically call for the addition of extra sugar (table sugar or honey), so I have to wonder if I could get more mellow wines faster by avoiding certain sugars. I thought sugar was sugar was sugar for the most part and the only advantage of juice over table sugar is that juice contains both flavoring and sugar.

Is there any truth in this? Any thoughts?

 

[jswordy]

This is untrue. In wine, high fusels are a byproduct of inefficient fermentation due to a defect in the process.

Many fruits and some grapes require amendment with sugar to reach targeted alcohol levels. There is nothing wrong with using table sugar; eastern wineries have done it for a century.

There is a difference between sugars in terms of sweetness to taste, but in pro and home winemaking sucrose (table sugar) is the typical standard.