to doctor the wine
Preserved but no longer current.
To drug it, or strengthen it with brandy; to make weak wine stronger, and "sick" wine more palatable. The fermenta- tion of cheap wines is increased by fermentable sugar. As such wines fail in aroma, connois- seurs smell at their wine.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to doctor the wine” mean?
To drug it, or strengthen it with brandy; to make weak wine stronger, and "sick" wine more palatable. The fermenta- tion of cheap wines is increased by fermentable sugar. As such wines fail in aroma, connois- seurs smell at their wine.
Is “to doctor the wine” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.