A bit of a non-story hit the headlines this week with a documentary on Channel 4:-
Dispatches reveals some of the 40 different substances, including fish and dairy products, that can be used in producing wine but which rarely appear on the label of the average bottle.
Wine-making is a complex process, and whilst there are obviously some producers who will “doctor” a wine to “improve” a wine’s marketability, there are strict controls within the EU on what is used in the whole process from growing the vine, harvesting and vinification. However, most of these additives are in such small quantities that unless you digestive system is highly sensitive then I doubt if it causes any problems – certainly not sufficient to neccesitate an exhaustive listing. The biggest villain is often added sugar, to increase the alcohol level in the wine.
An increasing number of small and medium-sized producers are increasingly turning organic, either full-blown or adopting a variety of systems which minimise and control additives in the vineyard and cellar.
I too watched the Channel 4 Dispatches report and I have to say that most customers that we talk to are both ignorant of this list & express concern that there is no proper ingredients list. Clearly “organic” starts to address a consumer’s concern since the grape production is then treated with allowable & natural “chemicals” on a need basis rather than a pharmaceutical treatment programme which ignores every aspect of the real state of a crop. Certainly I know of wine growers who are “going Organic” if only because they don’t want their employees to come back & sue them in 10 years for some illness deriving from working with “permitted chemicals” !
We at Rare & Organic work with small independent producers whom we know very well and we fully intend to make these ingredients known.
On our website we published the following .. On 30 October 2008 La Jara commissioned an independent chemical test for their Pinot Grigio and Prosecco. If the flavour and value of these superb wines has slipped you by, then perhaps a quick look at the analysis results will grab your attention.
In every single category of the 293 listed, the wines scored “<LQ”, which means “Inferiore al Limite di Quantificazione”, or “Below the Measurable Limit”
Sugar is an issue of adulteration but added chemicals is something we should know about … if it is below measurable limits then consumers need to know !