Wine Additives - Friend or Foe?

When it came out last class that artificial coloring is added to many wines, many people in the class gasped. I certainly felt a sense of disgust. Yet, I wasn't completely surprised. Last year on my GST, an executive from one of the large Argentinian wine groups we visited described their line of wines particularly targeted at millennials. For this brand, they wanted to accent particular flavors, so to get a wine with a flavor of tea leaves, they'd actually steep tea bags in the wine vats (of course without advertising this)! The idea is that now the flavor was so distinct that any young guy could pick up a bottle, take it to his girlfriend's father, and sound sophisticated as he waxed poetic about the notes of green tea in the wine. The story may seem exaggerated, but it gives you some insight into the brilliance (and perhaps disingenuousness) of the marketing plays by some winemakers.

The case for adding artificial coloring is much the same. Mega Purple, a grape concentrate produced by Constellation, is added to many wines to make their coloring more intense since many consumers have been conditioned to believe that darker wines are better. Furthermore, the additive also masks certain unwanted vegetal flavors and adds a fruity finish. While this previously might have been accomplished by blending the wine with another varietal, Mega Purple is far cheaper and a little bit goes a long way (hence the name).

Based on a little research, its unclear how many wineries actually use it. One source estimates its being added to over 25 million bottles annually [1], and not just by cheaper labels, but also in bottles upwards of $20. Its tough to determine which wineries actually use it, since no one wants to admit to it (although the article says it has from two sources that you'll find it in Yellowtail wines), but I think its safe to say we've probably all consumed it at some point.

I think the bigger questions is how should we feel about this? On the one hand, Mega Purple is basically just grape juice concentrate - its not a truly unnatural additive in the same way that silver nitrate is (Kingston Vineyards was caught using trace amount of this toxic chemical to mask a sulfur smell in its wines). This means that its probably not going to affect my health in an adverse way. Yet I feel like I'm being duped, or at minimum, being sold an inferior product. This might not affect the buying decisions of someone at a $5 price point, but it definitely would at higher prices. If I'm going to pay for what I consider a more expensive bottle ($20+), then I don't want my wine maker to be cutting corners. What's most distributing to me about the Mega Purple addition is not the color change, but the fact that most sources I read say that it causes the wines to which its added to all have a similar taste. Much of the fun of wine is the variety among different bottles - no two are the same! If you eliminate that by making wine that tastes good to the masses but is exactly the same with every bottle you uncork, then suddenly wine drinking loses its enjoyment for me. Plus, for vineyards, wine suddenly becomes a commoditized product because there's no space to differentiate on taste!

As more news about Mega Purple emerges (if it emerges), it may actually add value to the the organic wine movement. As people become more aware and concerned about additives in wine, they may push for organic wine in the same way they've begun to push for organic foods.