Wine As Intended.

Wow, after quickly scrolling through my content I was reminded that I have yet to dive into the topic of wine; that means it is time for a shameless plug ;). As you probably have seen, I support a clean crafted wine sourcing company called Scout & Cellar. Given my “allergy” to added sugar (check out my exposition titled “That Sugar-Free Life.” if you haven’t already), I started researching sugar free wines so that I could still enjoy the evening beverage I love so dearly, without the negative impacts on my body. What I learned is that all wine has sugar! In the natural wine making process this is just residual sugar left over from the grapes after the fermentation process. Initially I thought, wow, great news, wine only contains natural sugar so I should be fine to consume whatever I want. However, after researching further, and experimenting a bit and having adverse reactions from drinking certain wines, I learned that this is the furthest thing from the truth…

The wine making process is generally pretty simple; not a dig at winemakers, more of a justification for why the industry shouldn’t be so corrupt. Traditionally, the greatest skill associated with winemaking is the farming of grapes. Particular environments as well as the care involved with producing the best quality grapes is painstakingly difficult to maintain, but has given a name to some of the greatest wine making regions in the world. In the not so distant past, the post-harvest process was the easy part; you basically just let the pressed fruit ferment on its own until the natural sugars turn to just the right amount of alcohol. That process remains true with many winemakers today, and usually with the best in the world. More often than not, however, this process has been manipulated to keep up with demand, and ensure the same product gets produced year in and year out no matter the vintage.

Here’s how it generally works: First off, vineyards cannot produce enough grapes naturally to keep up with what they need to produce, so they use a whole host of chemicals to reduce waste and ensure grapes are nice and plump come time to harvest. Secondly, scientists have gotten very creative with yeast and added sugar, and are using them to control every detail of the fermentation process - rather than letting yeast naturally develop and do its thing. Genetically modified yeast allows winemakers to produce the same flavor in their wine, regardless of the quality of grapes used, their vintage, or their origin. They could throw just about any grape in there and make the wine taste the same way; quite incredible actually. Thirdly, they also have mastered the art of adding sulfites to preserve the wine they produce, so their consumers can enjoy every bottle they pop, not one, or two, but usually three or more days after opening without having much flavor change. With these innovations, wine producers can continue to produce the same product their consumers have grown to know and love, with minimal waste or time lost. It is the classic American way.

Here’s the problem: First and foremost, I am hoping you see the parallel between the way mass produced wine enters the market and the way a lot of our food does. Just like our food, most wine has been manipulated by chemicals and preservatives in the same way some of the food at our nearest grocery stores have. Many individuals have restructured their diets around these issues; my personal recommendation is to not stop at food. This leads me to the second component of the problem regardless of your opinion on the food issue: consumers have bountiful resources about what their food contains and are educated to make whatever decision they fancy regarding consumption, knowing the impact it may have on their bodies. In the wine industry, this is not the case. Most of the regulation around the production of liquor hasn't been changed since prohibition was lifted toward the end of 1933. This includes the fact that winemakers do not need to have nutrition facts labels on their bottles. This restricts the consumer from making an educated decision about purchasing and consuming a given bottle of wine: huge problem.

People like me cannot even evaluate a bottle of wine to make sure there is no added sugar. Others avoid wine (particularly red wine) entirely because of the way it makes them feel the night of or the next day, even after having just one glass. What's even crazier is that there is very little out there to educate yourself to be able to make an informed decision. I suppose this trend is no different than most wealthy industries in our global economy: ignore the issue as long as business is thriving.

Full circle though, my primary goal as a wine consultant is to educate people about these issues so that they can protect themselves from the harmful ingredients used to create most mass produced wines. My secondary goal is to help people enjoy wine again and find wines that leave them feeling great rather than with a headache, itchy, or nauseous the next morning. Please contact me if you are interested in learning more!

Hope you enjoyed the week end read,

Dionisio III

P.s. never hesitate to check out the Scout & Cellar website to browse through an endless selection of clean crafted wines!