Because it is an excellent raw material for fermentation, sugar is used to manufacture alcohol, It has long been associated with rum, made by distilling fermented concentrated sugar cane juice, or molasses.
Wine producers use a technique known as "chaptalisation" or "sugaring" in which they add sugar to increase the level of alcohol in their wines.
Sugar is doubly valuable in the production of Champagne. It is sugar that produces the bubbles by promoting the fermentation of yeast, which produces carbon dioxide. Added in minute doses, it also determines whether the bubbly champagne is brut, demi-sec or doux.