amelioration, which strictly means improvement, is a euphemism for chemical intervention in winemaking with the express purpose of compensating for nature’s deficiencies. Thus in cooler wine regions the term is commonly used interchangeably with enrichment or chaptalization. Amelioration is sometimes used more widely to include both acidification and deacidification, and sometimes for any chemical adjustment to the constituents naturally present in grape juice or wine. Ameliorating operations condoned by each region’s authorities tend to be those required, and vice versa, but limits are set. See also manipulation.
