The art of wine-making has come a long way from the stuff they used to serve the Roman elite all those centuries ago. These days there’s a lot more than just fermented grape juice in a bottle of wine. Additives are not bad for your wine – in fact, they help the wine-maker create unique combinations of tastes and aromas for each type of wine.
What are they?
Wine-makers add a cocktail of additives to wine to improve colour, consistency and longevity. Additives like cultured yeast, malolactic bacteria and protein enzymes enhance the smoothness and richness of the wine. They attack the natural bacteria and yeasts in untreated wine that causes it to rot and become “bad”.
The additives in wine help stabilise its structure, making it far more sophisticated than simply fermented grape juice. Sulphite is an important additive that helps do away with harmful natural bacteria. It is usually used with ascorbic acid which acts as an anti-oxidant. Tartaric acid helps increase the wine’s overall acidity.
Why use them?
Additives are used to correct imbalances that might occur in wines, like when tannin or sugar levels are too low. Wine-makers simply add extra doses of acid or sugar to the wine mixture and its character stabilises. Wine-making requires patience, but sometimes Nature needs a nudge to keep everything moving on schedule. To extract colour from the grape skins, wine-makers use various enzymes to speed up the process. Wine-fining agents like cream of tartar help smooth the wine’s texture. These are most used in white wine.
Additives may be present in all wines but you should never be able to taste them.
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