5 ms·

At the point we have all that stuff in there are we really drinking "wine", or are we drinking some kind of alcoholic mixed drink? I personally would not expec

At the point we have all that stuff in there are we really drinking "wine", or are we drinking some kind of alcoholic mixed drink? I personally would not expect, regardless of price point, that something I buy called "wine" has anything other than grapes and yeast, with maybe a bit of added sugar or honey. After reading that article and the above comment I think I'd rather just mix some grape juice and vodka than some of that really cheap wine.

rapnie 6y ago
Agreed, it is a thing to consider. Problem is (at least in the EU) there's no requirement to put any of the ingredients on the label, other than - I believe - "contains sulfates". It's hard for consumers to know this is really some pseudo-wine.
- dejv 6y ago
  "Contains sulfites" is awesome label as it is impossible to make wine without it: small amount of sulfites are created as by-product of fermentation.
  - mekkkkkk 6y ago
    Sounds like the Cookie-law of wine making.
- rjbwork 6y ago
  Yeah. There is also no requirements here in the US because alcohol is regulated by the BATFE (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives) rather than the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) or USDA (Department of Agriculture). The regulatory scheme here is more about making sure taxes are paid and bootleggers are caught and punished than creating transparency of product or consumer protection.
kungito 6y ago
Most of the time I just want to get tipsy or drunk with my friends and I don't really care how many hours have the grapes been grazing the sun. If it's ok taste, isn't too unhealthy and gets the job done, it works for me. And I'm pretty sure that's everyone who buys 2€ wine
dagw 6y ago
something I buy called "wine" has anything other than grapes and yeast Virtually no wine, no matter how expensive, is just grapes and yeast. All wine you can buy in a store contains at least some additives.
- veggieburglar 6y ago
  This is not true, "natural wine" is exploding and there are quite a few wines out there that do not contain any added SO2. We get people in asking for them all the time. However, the vast majority of wines do contain at least a small amount of added SO2. There are plenty of expensive wines out there with lots of manipulative additives (sucrose, acidification or deacidification, oak powder, etc) as has been outlined above, but it is much more common in less expensive wine. There is a scale between wine as a mass produced industrial product and as an artisanal, site-specific hand crafted product, and there are wineries/brands/specific wines that fill in every conceivable spot on that spectrum. Oftentimes, individual wineries will have different lines of products made in different ways or even in different facilities. Estate grown vs purchased fruit. Physical wineries vs "private labels" made at custom crush facilities. A little tangential perhaps...

rapnie 6y ago

Agreed, it is a thing to consider. Problem is (at least in the EU) there's no requirement to put any of the ingredients on the label, other than - I believe - "contains sulfates". It's hard for consumers to know this is really some pseudo-wine.

dejv 6y ago
"Contains sulfites" is awesome label as it is impossible to make wine without it: small amount of sulfites are created as by-product of fermentation.
- mekkkkkk 6y ago
  Sounds like the Cookie-law of wine making.
rjbwork 6y ago
Yeah. There is also no requirements here in the US because alcohol is regulated by the BATFE (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives) rather than the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) or USDA (Department of Agriculture). The regulatory scheme here is more about making sure taxes are paid and bootleggers are caught and punished than creating transparency of product or consumer protection.

kungito 6y ago

Most of the time I just want to get tipsy or drunk with my friends and I don't really care how many hours have the grapes been grazing the sun. If it's ok taste, isn't too unhealthy and gets the job done, it works for me. And I'm pretty sure that's everyone who buys 2€ wine

dagw 6y ago

something I buy called "wine" has anything other than grapes and yeast Virtually no wine, no matter how expensive, is just grapes and yeast. All wine you can buy in a store contains at least some additives.

veggieburglar 6y ago
This is not true, "natural wine" is exploding and there are quite a few wines out there that do not contain any added SO2. We get people in asking for them all the time. However, the vast majority of wines do contain at least a small amount of added SO2. There are plenty of expensive wines out there with lots of manipulative additives (sucrose, acidification or deacidification, oak powder, etc) as has been outlined above, but it is much more common in less expensive wine. There is a scale between wine as a mass produced industrial product and as an artisanal, site-specific hand crafted product, and there are wineries/brands/specific wines that fill in every conceivable spot on that spectrum. Oftentimes, individual wineries will have different lines of products made in different ways or even in different facilities. Estate grown vs purchased fruit. Physical wineries vs "private labels" made at custom crush facilities. A little tangential perhaps...