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Title 26 — Internal Revenue CodeRelease 119-73

§5383 Amelioration and sweetening limitations for natural grape wines

Title 26 › Subtitle Subtitle E— - Alcohol, Tobacco, and Certain Other Excise Taxes › Chapter CHAPTER 51— - DISTILLED SPIRITS, WINES, AND BEER › Subchapter Subchapter F— - Bonded and Taxpaid Wine Premises › Part PART III— - CELLAR TREATMENT AND CLASSIFICATION OF WINE › § 5383

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Allows winemakers to add sugar or water to natural grape wine under set limits. Ameliorating materials are dry sugar, liquid sugar, water, or sugar mixed with water. After fermentation and before paying tax, a wine may be sweetened with dry or liquid sugar if the finished wine’s solids are no more than 12% by weight and alcohol is no more than 14% by volume. If the grape juice starts with more than 5 parts per thousand fixed acid (measured before fermentation as tartaric acid), a winemaker may add ameliorating materials before, during, or after fermentation as long as the acid is not reduced below 5 parts per thousand and the added material is no more than 35% of the combined juice-plus-additive volume. Wines made this way may be sweetened after fermentation so finished solids do not exceed 17% by weight when alcohol is over 14% by volume, or 21% by weight when alcohol is 14% or less. Liquid sugar cannot be used to increase volume beyond what the maximum dry sugar would produce. Spirits may be added only if the alcohol from fermentation is 14% by volume or less.

Full Legal Text

Title 26, §5383

Internal Revenue Code — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Any natural grape wine may be sweetened after fermentation and before taxpayment with pure dry sugar or liquid sugar if the total solids content of the finished wine does not exceed 12 percent of the weight of the wine and the alcoholic content of the finished wine after sweetening is not more than 14 percent by volume; except that the use under this subsection of liquid sugar shall be limited so that the resultant volume will not exceed the volume which could result from the maximum authorized use of pure dry sugar only.
(b)(1)Before, during, and after fermentation, ameliorating materials consisting of pure dry sugar or liquid sugar, water, or a combination of sugar and water, may be added to natural grape wines of a winemaker’s own production when such wines are made from juice having a natural fixed acid content of more than five parts per thousand (calculated before fermentation and as tartaric acid). Ameliorating material so added shall not reduce the natural fixed acid content of the juice to less than five parts per thousand, nor exceed 35 percent of the volume of juice (calculated exclusive of pulp) and ameliorating material combined.
(2)Any wine produced under this subsection may be sweetened by the producer thereof, after amelioration and fermentation, with pure dry sugar or liquid sugar if the total solids content of the finished wine does not exceed (A) 17 percent by weight if the alcoholic content is more than 14 percent by volume, or (B) 21 percent by weight if the alcoholic content is not more than 14 percent by volume. The use under this paragraph of liquid sugar shall be limited to cases where the resultant volume does not exceed the volume which could result from the maximum authorized use of pure dry sugar only.
(3)Wine spirits may be added (whether or not wine spirits were previously added) to wine produced under this subsection only if the wine contains not more than 14 percent of alcohol by volume derived from fermentation.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Prior Provisions

A prior section 5383, act Aug. 16, 1954, ch. 736, 68A Stat. 669, consisted of provisions similar to those comprising this section, prior to the general revision of this chapter by Pub. L. 85–859.

Amendments

1968—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 90–619, § 3(b), substituted “not more than 14 percent” for “less than 14 percent”. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 90–619, § 3(a), simplified production procedures and calculations, provided that the limitation on sweetening high acid wine is to be based upon the total solids content of the finished wine, authorized the use of liquid sugar but only to the extent that it did not increase the total volume of the finished wine above what it would be if the maximum authorized use had been made of dry sugar only, and inserted provisions making it clear that wine spirits may be added at more than one stage in the process of wine production. 1965—Pub. L. 89–44 divided subsec. (b) relating to high acid wines into pars. (1) and (2) and par. (2) into subpars. (A) to (E), struck out reserve inventory requirement with respect to the amelioration and sweetening of wines, authorized use of other than pure, dry sugar, and allowed limited use of liquid sugar at appropriate points where use of pure dry sugar had formerly been prescribed.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1968 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 90–619 effective on first day of first month which begins 90 days or more after Oct. 22, 1968, see section 6 of Pub. L. 90–619, set out as a note under section 5373 of this title.

Effective Date

of 1965 Amendment Pub. L. 89–44, title VIII, § 806(d)(2), June 21, 1965, 79 Stat. 164, provided that: “The

Amendments

made by subsections (b) and (c) [amending this section and section 5382, 5384, 5385, and 5392] shall take effect on January 1, 1966.”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

26 U.S.C. § 5383

Title 26 — Internal Revenue Code

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73