Americans are predictable consumers. We like our cars shiny, we like our burgers juicy, and like our our Cabernet to be dark in color and rich in flavor. Unfortunately, mother nature, unlike General Motor’s ability to produce shiny cars and Wendy’s grilling juicy burgers, does not always cooperate in the production of a dark and rich Cabernet. The growing season is regularly impacted by weather that negatively affects ripening, and winemakers are ultimately at risk of releasing a wine that may not appeal to either reviewers or the consuming public. Producers might be tempted to consider improving the likelihood of a positive reaction by ‘enhancing’ the bottled product.
Automobile producers and the food service industry have long manipulated the appearance of their product to improve marketability. Winemakers also need to sell their product to survive economically, this is especially true at the highly competitive under $20 price point.
Thus, we come to a conversation about Mega Purple and its many ‘relatives’.
I was intrigued by, and had written about Mega Purple in a short article for The Sterling Cellars (Mahopac, New York) Weekly Newsletter nearly a decade ago. The product had been introduced by beverage giant Constellation Brands through its Canandaigua subsidiary. Located in Upstate New York, and responsible for selling more than $8B (yes…billion) of wine, spirits, and beer each year, Constellation is also making a few additional dollars as the producer and distributor of Mega Purple.
Mega Red is a teinturier (a style of wine defined by a deep red color and high level of tannins). The Mega Red teinturier is an engineered product of the Rubired, a “hybrid grape created in 1958 by crossing Portugese native grapes Tinto Cao and Alicante Ganzin”. The hybrid grape is known to generate “generous yields. In a concentrated form Rubired is packaged as Mega Purple. Then, Wine-Searcher reports, “Mega Purple can be employed to deepen the color and enhance the sweetness of mass-produced inexpensive wines”.
Mega Purple would seem expensive…$125 per gallon, but Constellation Brands has developed a market for 50,000 gallons each year. A large percentage of the concentrate is used by home winemakers.
Adam Lee of Siduri Wines is not overly concerned about the use of Mega Purple. He argues that the “whole thing is over-reported” and suggests that only about 20% of the total Constellation production is sold to a U.S. commercial wine industry that produces more than 800,000,000 gallons each vintage. However, even only 10,000 gallons of Mega Purple is sold to commercial wineries…a little goes a long way. The addition of just 0.1% to each gallon of wine is enough to alter color…and flavor. And, there are some winemakers who admit to using higher percentages of Mega Purple. Those producers do warn that the percentage needs to remain below 0.4 per gallon to guard against changes in the flavor profile.
Ellen Landis, a wine writer, sommelier, and international wine judge has studied Mega Purple in depth. She suggests that just one drop will turn a large glass of water ‘purplish black’. And, she indicates, “This is a very sweet product”, and thus it can be used by winemakers for many ‘alterations’ beyond color. Landis believes that many lower priced California Pinot Noirs are adulterated with Mega Purple.
The bottom line, if you do the math, suggests that there are very few gallons (approximately 10 million…remember, 800 million total) of commercial wine that might have been adulterated by Mega Purple. Again, most of those wines are sold for less than $20. Nevertheless, American many wine consumers express ‘outrage’ that any of their wines might be manipulated.
There are rumors that ‘jug’ wines such as Barefoot (noted for its lower priced wines and is the ‘bestselling’ wine brand in the world) might benefit from the use of Constellation’s Mega Purple. However, I found no evidence of Barefoot using Mega Purple. However, there are more expensive wines that are suspected of using additives. Meiomi Pinot Noir, noted for its deep color and rich flavors, is considered a ‘suspicious’ wine. Joe Wagner, son of Napa Cabernet legend Chuck Wagner and the founder of Meiomi, denies the accusation.
Mega Purple can dramatically alter the key components of a wine. Improved color is the primary justification for use, but keep in mind that the brix (solids in the juice of a plant – mostly sugar and minerals – higher brix generally means more flavor) level of Mega Purple is nearly 70. By comparison, Cabernet Sauvignon is usually less than 25 brix. The human palate is especially sensitive to the flavor elements related to the tongue…sour, bitter, salt, and sweet. Ellen Landis argues that a 0.1% addition of Mega Purple to the total volume of wine produced should be considered a maximum. She argues that the 0.1% addition will impact both appearance and flavor. Many winemakers, as noted above, disagree.
What else could be in your wine? How about animal products? This would be particularly disturbing to vegans and vegetarians. Egg whites and other animal products are often used to clarify wine. Sulfites are added to prevent oxidation. Water is added to reduce alcohol and to reduce taxes. When the vintage is weak and the brix is low, sugar may be added to encourage yeasts to produce more alcohol (a process referred to as chaptalization). Cultured yeasts replace ambient (natural) yeasts so that the wine meets the winemaker’s flavor objectives. Calcium Carbonate and malic acids can increase and decrease the acidity of a wine. Powdered tannins are available. Oak chips are added to fermentation tanks to impart a positive flavor package much less expensively than would the use of an oak barrel. And, mechanical process like micro-oxygenation and reverse osmosis can virtually guarantee a ‘perfect wine’ for the marketplace. In fact, Smithsonian Magazine reports that there are “more than 60 government-approved additives that can be used to tweak everything from color to acidity to thickness”.
The ‘adulteration’ of wine is not a recent phenomenon. Smithsonian Magazine further noted that the Romans added lead to thicken their wine, and by the Middle Ages winemakers were adding sulfur to stabilize the juice and keep it fresh.
So, how would you know if Mega Purple, or its many friends have been utilized in the production of the wine that you are drinking this evening? You cannot. Maybe, following the first swirl of a glass, you may notice that the ‘legs’ have a ‘purplish’ tint. Most wine grapes only produce a clear liquid and as a result the ‘legs’ are also clear. If you notice the purple tinted legs (especially in a varietal with which you are familiar…and if the wine is inexpensive) you may surmise that the wine has been influenced by Mega Purple (or the like).
Mega Purple is not the only culprit. E.C. Kraus offers concentrates from more than 200 worldwide varietals. Midwest Supplies offers Alexander’s Sun Country Concentrates from dozens of varietals, as well as glycerin, that “sweetens, adds body, and smooths and mellows wine”.
There are, of course,‘ natural’ alternatives to a wine ‘cocktail’. Ellen Landis suggests that winemakers seeking darker color should consider blending darker varietals. There are vineyard processes, like reducing yield and removing leaves thus allowing grapes greater access to the sun, that can improve texture, tannin, color, and flavor. However, natural approaches to producing a better wine cost both time and money. And, if your price point is $20 or less, competitive factors may require the use of additives to insure a flavor and color package that satisfies the consumer without ‘breaking the bank’.
Is there any requirement for wineries to share their ‘slight of hand’ with you? Nope. Unlike food and medicine, alcoholic beverages are not “covered by the Food and Drug Administration”. Wine labels need to only provide information related to the Alcohol by Volume (ABV); that the wine contains sulfites (they all do); and any food coloring (for example, Red Dye 40) that may have been added to the final product. There are, however, some U.S. winemakers that have chosen to include ingredients on their labels… most notably California’s Ridge and Bonny Doon. Other producers are considering listing theirs.
Are you now looking for a wine that is absolutely free of Mega Purple? Consider the wines of Oregon. It is a violation of Oregon law to use grapes not currently grown in the state…an example of such a grape would be Rubired.
The question is…do most consumers care what in goes into making a product if it is something that agrees with both your palate and your wallet? The answer is…assuming no impact to your health…no? Distributors and retailers want to sell wine. Selling a wine for $20 (or less) that tastes like a much more expensive bottle is an excellent business model. It works for the retailer and for the consumer.
There are, as yet, no health concerns that have been reported regarding the use of Mega Purple. It is an agricultural concentrate. And, those winemakers who admit to using Mega Purple, indicate that it is only utilized when circumstances are desperate. A weak vintage tends to drive the decision. One Sonoma winemaker said, “Sure, I use it, but only very infrequently and only for some of my (lower-priced) wines. Look, Mega Purple has residual, so it adds a bit of texture, and that adds a little weight and it pops the fruit.”
Is it cheating? Nope. Information related to additives is readily available. Additives are legal. Additives have been determined to be safe. And, every winery (at least outside of Oregon) has a choice as which tools best make their wine saleable. Consumers may wish to believe that all wine is a natural product produced in a non-manipulative manner, but those consumers are in error. Even if Mega Purple is not used, consider all the other options available to the winemaker.
And, while there is no Mega White, there are multiple additives available ‘to improve’ the appearance, texture, and sweetness of white wines. Oh, by the way, beer is not immune from the ‘adulteration’ trend. However, that conversation falls outside the scope of this blog.