From the article: Personal note: My summer of playing hooky from professional life by working at my favorite winery's tasting room is coming to its end, so I thought I'd post some of the more...
From the article:
Actress Cameron Diaz and her business partner, the entrepreneur Katherine Power, have been all over various media promoting their new product Avaline, a white wine and a rosé, which they bill as “clean wine”. This has stirred up a hornet’s nest of controversy. Here is how they describe this very sanitary liquid:
Winemakers are legally required to disclose very little about their wines. Those disclosures only reveal information such as growing and bottling locations, whether the wine contains sulfites, and the percentage of alcohol. There’s no obligation to tell you how their grapes are grown or to name any of the more than 70 additives that are used in the winemaking process to alter the taste, color, and mouthfeel of what is in your glass.
We believe in holding our wine to a higher standard. Here’s to a new class of beverage: delicious taste, clean ingredients, bold transparency.
Wine writer Alder Yarrow calls this a “commercial scam” and most serious wine enthusiasts are treating this notion of “clean wine” with a good deal of skepticism.
Personal note: My summer of playing hooky from professional life by working at my favorite winery's tasting room is coming to its end, so I thought I'd post some of the more interesting reading I'd found along the way.
For those who aren't aware, vegans who are conscientious about food production may avoid most commercial wine. Powdered egg white or gelatin additives are commonly used to remove fine suspended sediment, resulting in wine with greater clarity and somewhat less aggressive tannins.
At the end of the day, alcoholic beverages should be considered heavily processed foods, subjected to extensive mechanical, thermal, and chemical manipulation at every stage of production. Even though yeasts occur naturally, they're biochemical manufactories capable of turning grape juice (itself processed) into numerous toxic substances, alcohol among them. As the article notes, the grapes may be organically grown, but any health or ethical benefits of "clean" wine are strictly notional.
I pretty much despise the use of the word "clean" in these types of contexts. I do, however, think that having a list of what you're ingesting available before you ingest it is a good idea. I had...
I pretty much despise the use of the word "clean" in these types of contexts. I do, however, think that having a list of what you're ingesting available before you ingest it is a good idea. I had no idea egg whites were used in the making of wine. I only recently learned that I'm allergic to egg yolks, but not whites, so not a problem for me, but had I also been allergic to egg whites, I wouldn't have even guessed they were used in wine. So I'd love to see this sort of thing become more transparent. But I would also like to see this type of "clean" marketing die a quick painful death.
Excellent point. It bares also noting that what may or not be added to wone depends on jurisdiction. This seems a good starting point for what EU wines may include:...
Excellent point. It bares also noting that what may or not be added to wone depends on jurisdiction.
I had no idea! Thank you for this! I don't drink wine, but my husband does, and we recently ordered some from a local winery near us that he really likes. One of the bottles had a small amount of...
For those who aren't aware, vegans who are conscientious about food production may avoid most commercial wine. Powdered egg white or gelatin additives are commonly used to remove fine suspended sediment, resulting in wine with greater clarity and somewhat less aggressive tannins.
I had no idea! Thank you for this!
I don't drink wine, but my husband does, and we recently ordered some from a local winery near us that he really likes. One of the bottles had a small amount of sediment at the bottom of it which weirded him out a bit, and he didn't finish the bottle as a result. He was worried it was indicative of some sort of production issue or a lack of quality, and he wondered whether he would order from them again. We're glad to know it's actually not an issue, since he really likes the flavor of their wines and we like supporting a local business in buying from them.
No, sediment in wine is a completely natural phenomenon. It can be anything from tartaric acid (naturally present in grape juice) crystals, to precipitated grape pigments, to yeast residue. One of...
No, sediment in wine is a completely natural phenomenon. It can be anything from tartaric acid (naturally present in grape juice) crystals, to precipitated grape pigments, to yeast residue. One of the mentioned ingredients in "industrial" wine, bentonite clay, is also used to refine sediment particles out. There's a lot of discussion among winemakers about whether mechanical filtering methods strip out flavor, and the consensus seems to be that traditional flocculants (egg white powder, clay, etc.) are less damaging to natural flavor profiles.
The dimple (punt) in the bottom of the bottles used for some wine varietals, e.g. Pinot Noir, is there to allow the sediment to settle out of, and separate from, the wine, as well as strengthening the bottle for effervescent fermentations.
I'm kind of crazy about wine chemistry and production methods these days, and will rattle on at excessive length if provoked.
In what sense was your work at the winery 'playing hooky'? I would imagine that there are broad social strictures in the world of beverage services. A friend of mine who worked a couple seasons...
In what sense was your work at the winery 'playing hooky'? I would imagine that there are broad social strictures in the world of beverage services.
A friend of mine who worked a couple seasons for different wineries once railed very hard about labeling requirements as "anti-competitive" and I have never been sure how seriously I should have taken his concerns.
From the article:
Personal note: My summer of playing hooky from professional life by working at my favorite winery's tasting room is coming to its end, so I thought I'd post some of the more interesting reading I'd found along the way.
For those who aren't aware, vegans who are conscientious about food production may avoid most commercial wine. Powdered egg white or gelatin additives are commonly used to remove fine suspended sediment, resulting in wine with greater clarity and somewhat less aggressive tannins.
At the end of the day, alcoholic beverages should be considered heavily processed foods, subjected to extensive mechanical, thermal, and chemical manipulation at every stage of production. Even though yeasts occur naturally, they're biochemical manufactories capable of turning grape juice (itself processed) into numerous toxic substances, alcohol among them. As the article notes, the grapes may be organically grown, but any health or ethical benefits of "clean" wine are strictly notional.
I pretty much despise the use of the word "clean" in these types of contexts. I do, however, think that having a list of what you're ingesting available before you ingest it is a good idea. I had no idea egg whites were used in the making of wine. I only recently learned that I'm allergic to egg yolks, but not whites, so not a problem for me, but had I also been allergic to egg whites, I wouldn't have even guessed they were used in wine. So I'd love to see this sort of thing become more transparent. But I would also like to see this type of "clean" marketing die a quick painful death.
Excellent point. It bares also noting that what may or not be added to wone depends on jurisdiction.
This seems a good starting point for what EU wines may include:
https://glossary.wein.plus/agents-used-in-winemaking
https://ec.europa.eu/info/food-farming-fisheries/food-safety-and-quality/certification/quality-labels/quality-schemes-explained/regulations-wine_en
I had no idea! Thank you for this!
I don't drink wine, but my husband does, and we recently ordered some from a local winery near us that he really likes. One of the bottles had a small amount of sediment at the bottom of it which weirded him out a bit, and he didn't finish the bottle as a result. He was worried it was indicative of some sort of production issue or a lack of quality, and he wondered whether he would order from them again. We're glad to know it's actually not an issue, since he really likes the flavor of their wines and we like supporting a local business in buying from them.
No, sediment in wine is a completely natural phenomenon. It can be anything from tartaric acid (naturally present in grape juice) crystals, to precipitated grape pigments, to yeast residue. One of the mentioned ingredients in "industrial" wine, bentonite clay, is also used to refine sediment particles out. There's a lot of discussion among winemakers about whether mechanical filtering methods strip out flavor, and the consensus seems to be that traditional flocculants (egg white powder, clay, etc.) are less damaging to natural flavor profiles.
The dimple (punt) in the bottom of the bottles used for some wine varietals, e.g. Pinot Noir, is there to allow the sediment to settle out of, and separate from, the wine, as well as strengthening the bottle for effervescent fermentations.
I'm kind of crazy about wine chemistry and production methods these days, and will rattle on at excessive length if provoked.
In what sense was your work at the winery 'playing hooky'? I would imagine that there are broad social strictures in the world of beverage services.
A friend of mine who worked a couple seasons for different wineries once railed very hard about labeling requirements as "anti-competitive" and I have never been sure how seriously I should have taken his concerns.