From being a fairly unremarkable additive in most wines, sulphur dioxide has recently turned into a burning topic of discussion for wine enthusiasts. SO2 is added to the wine to protect it from premature oxidation.
Will there soon be a requirement for wines to list the ingredients on the label? The issue has been debated in recent years. (Just to be clear: it is not forbidden to have a declaration
New rules came into force for vinification of organic wines on January 1st, 2019. Six new additives are allowed. Autolysate of yeast: Nourishes the yeast during the alcoholic and malolactic fermentation. Inactivated yeast: Nourishes the
A few years ago, we wrote in the Brief about the South African wine producer KWV who had made a wine called Earth’s Essence without added sulphur. Instead, they had used the rooibos plant, known
Yeast, cultivated or natural, is something that a lot of people feel strongly about. Both consumers and producers. Although the vast majority of producers use cultivated yeast, the “natural” yeast enthusiasts have been so convincing,
“When making organic wine you use no additives and you don’t spray toxins in the vineyard”. Just a little bit exaggerated (but only slightly) this is what one can both hear said and read sometimes.
The vast majority of wines in the world, probably around 90%, ferment with added cultivated yeast. Most wine producers believe this provides a safer fermentation and a better wine. But a small group of winemakers
It is not allowed to aromatize wine. With one exception. You can age the wine in oak barrels. The oak gives flavours to the wine although many producers now claim that they are not looking
A while back BKWine Magazine published a text on the wine from South Africa where they refrained from using sulphur and instead used rooibos, a South African wood species. BKWine Magazine’s reporter Mikael Karlin became
The biggest IGP appellation in France, the IGP Pays d’Oc, has allied itself with the two largest European manufacturers of concentrated grape must. Together they will fight against chaptalization and the unbalanced competition the they
It caused a certain brouhaha when an ”investigative” television program on wine was aired recently in Sweden, Kalla Fakta (Cold Facts). Several wine producers and wine importers appeared in the program in a way that
Kalla Fakta (Cold Facts) is a Swedish investigative news program at TV4. A program that is always watched by a lot of people. The November edition of the program was called “Poison in your glass”
Is it possible to replace the antioxidant and anti-bacterial properties of sulphur with a preservative made from grape seeds? Yes, that is the idea of Intergrapes in Italy after seven years of study. They claim
New rules for labelling and additives in wine All pre-packed food products must state on the label if they contain possibly allergenic products. So far, wine has been exempted from this rule. But only for
Gum Arabic is, technically, a polysaccharide and a resin like substance from an Arabic acacia tree. Its use is permitted in winemaker. Nothing particularly strange about that. It is a regular food additive with the
There is a (very small) trend today among certain wine makers not to use any sulphur at all during the winemaking. Sulphur is used by virtually all wine producers, for example to stabilise the wine
Everyone knows that the tannins in the grape skins are “good”: softer, riper, more harmonious. The grape pip (seed) tannins are “bad”: more aggressive, harsher, and more difficult to integrate in the wine. That is,
From being a fairly unremarkable additive in most wines, sulphur dioxide has recently turned into a burning topic of discussion for wine enthusiasts. SO2 is
Will there soon be a requirement for wines to list the ingredients on the label? The issue has been debated in recent years. (Just to
New rules came into force for vinification of organic wines on January 1st, 2019. Six new additives are allowed. Autolysate of yeast: Nourishes the yeast
A few years ago, we wrote in the Brief about the South African wine producer KWV who had made a wine called Earth’s Essence without
Yeast, cultivated or natural, is something that a lot of people feel strongly about. Both consumers and producers. Although the vast majority of producers use
“When making organic wine you use no additives and you don’t spray toxins in the vineyard”. Just a little bit exaggerated (but only slightly) this
The vast majority of wines in the world, probably around 90%, ferment with added cultivated yeast. Most wine producers believe this provides a safer fermentation
It is not allowed to aromatize wine. With one exception. You can age the wine in oak barrels. The oak gives flavours to the wine
A while back BKWine Magazine published a text on the wine from South Africa where they refrained from using sulphur and instead used rooibos, a
The biggest IGP appellation in France, the IGP Pays d’Oc, has allied itself with the two largest European manufacturers of concentrated grape must. Together they
It caused a certain brouhaha when an ”investigative” television program on wine was aired recently in Sweden, Kalla Fakta (Cold Facts). Several wine producers and
Kalla Fakta (Cold Facts) is a Swedish investigative news program at TV4. A program that is always watched by a lot of people. The November
Is it possible to replace the antioxidant and anti-bacterial properties of sulphur with a preservative made from grape seeds? Yes, that is the idea of
New rules for labelling and additives in wine All pre-packed food products must state on the label if they contain possibly allergenic products. So far,
Gum Arabic is, technically, a polysaccharide and a resin like substance from an Arabic acacia tree. Its use is permitted in winemaker. Nothing particularly strange
There is a (very small) trend today among certain wine makers not to use any sulphur at all during the winemaking. Sulphur is used by
Everyone knows that the tannins in the grape skins are “good”: softer, riper, more harmonious. The grape pip (seed) tannins are “bad”: more aggressive, harsher,
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