![]() It’s funny how my wine journey has evolved. I just didn’t have the heart to write about a sample when I didn’t know more about it’s origins. I contemplated writing about this for a while which is why I have not posted a blog article in quite some time. I will admit to being completely shocked when I first learned this. The Listīelow is the lengthy list of permissible additives to wine in the United States. There is no such thing as vintage variation, which is normal and natural. This is how these wines taste exactly the same, year after year. There isn’t a problem or issue that the industrial wine industry hasn’t found a solution for. There are entire research labs dedicated to finding out exactly what the general consumer favors in a wine more fruit flavors, level of sweetness, tannins, and so forth. This is the same tactic that snack food companies like Nabisco and fast food chains like McDonalds use for their products. Large wine producing companies like Treasury for example, employ the expertise of food scientists who develop wine that suits the tastes of the general consumer. Wine is treated more like a science project than an romantic, artisan beverage. The usage of fining agents like the ones mentioned above aid in the speedy production of wine. ![]() It’s important to remember that for the industrial wine industry Time is money, and the faster a production facility can churn out their wine, the faster it can make it to retailers and into your shopping cart. Industrial Wine is made as quickly as possible. Good wine making takes time and patience. This is also the fining agent used the the Cameron Diaz “Clean Wine”, Avaline). The FDA does not routinely regulate bentonite clay products, especially for industrial uses. In 2016, the FDA issued a warning on ingestion of certain bentonite clay products as they were tested to have unsafe levels of lead in them. The clay comes from the ground and it may inadvertently collect heavy metals, pesticides, or other substances. Other common fining agents include Ovo-Pure (powdered egg whites), Isinglass (granulated fish bladders), gelatin (usually made from pigskin and cow bones) or with Puri-Bent (bentonite clay, which is also used in cat litter. ![]() Caputi, 1969) and is a known human irritant. There are some fining agents which are completely synthetic like polyvinylpyrrolidone, a water soluble binding agents which lingers in small amounts in white table wines (A. This step is simply not necessary if the proper care, patience, and attention is paid during the wine making process. However, this practice is not performed in natural wines, as well as many smaller wine operations. According to the Wine and Spirits Educational Trust fining is widely practiced and is generally considered an important step in ensuring the wine’s stability. These particles then fall to the bottom of the wine and then are filtered out. ![]() ![]() The fining agent binds to the unwanted particles in the wine, like a glue. It’s purpose is to remove unwanted materials and qualities from the wine like haziness, unwanted aromas, color, or bitterness. Quite simply, fining is the process by which the wine is clarified. There is currently no such labeling laws enforced in the wine industry which except for the Surgeon General Warning, disclosure of Alcohol By Volume (ABV), whether or not the wine contains Sulfates (which is basically most wines), and if certain food coloring agents were used (like red 40, etc & to be honest I have never seen this on a wine label). This does not have to be disclosed to the consumer. However, in regards to the industrial wine industry, the aspects that I find the most disturbing is the widely accepted practice of using an assortment of additives and fining agents. Things like temperature control and judicious sulphur usage are necessary. Otherwise its more likely that the grapes will turn to vinegar than something remotely worthy of drinking. I understand that there must be some level of control and manipulation in order to make wine. As it turns out, there are many more steps involved, particularly within the industrial wine industry. If you had asked me five years ago how wine was made, I had a very naive view that all wine was made by grapes that were simply crushed, fermented and then filtered a little before bottling in order to get rid of the used grapes. ![]()
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