Top 8 Worst Wine Additives

Wine makers can draw from hundreds of items to tweak a wine to exactly what they want, in a “mad-scientist” kinda way, legally and without disclosing to you what they added.

We are going to talk about the biggest additive offenders that are commonly used in mass produced wine.

1. Mega-Purple – This additives is used to “correct” the color of the wine. This is legally allowed to be added, and the winery doesn’t have to disclose that to you. Why is it so terrible? It covers up the true taste and quality of a wine that makes up that wine. I like my wine to look the natural way it was meant to look. Don’t add mega-purple just because it doesn’t look the way you bulk mad-scientists want it to be made.
2. Ferrocyanide – This is added to wine to remove iron that could be in wine either from an imbalance in the soil where the grapes were grown or from using poor quality containers for the grape and wine storage. So not only do wine makers have to add the ferrocyanide, they then have to add an additional chemical that will remove the ferrocyanide. If it isn’t removed in under 10 days, it literally breaks down and turns into cyanide. CYANIDE. Do you know the dangers of ingesting cyanide?
3. Isinglass – This is fish bladder. Truly. It’s dried fish bladder. It can legally be added to wines and is used to clarify wine. Who even thinks of adding a fish bladder to wine?
4. Casein (milk protein), eggs, gelatin – These are both used as a clarifying agent to remove sentiment and suspend solids. Most people have no idea that animal bi-products are added to their wine. These bizarre ingredients are frequently chosen due to how cheaply they can clarify a wine. Quality vintners will typically use higher quality and natural finning agents, such as clay or carbon.
5. Ammonia – Ammonia is added to wine to give more life to yeasts that aren’t completing the fermentation process. Since ammonia is commonly used for sanitizing and cleaning, I would just rather not. Go google the dangers of ammonia consumption and come back to me and let me know if you are still comfortable with small dosing of ammonia day after day.
6. Copper Sulfate & Copper Citrate – Copper Sulfate is categorized as a POISON. This poison is added to wine to remove the free sulfur. Free sulfur is what gives off the rotten egg smell. Unfortunately residual copper can have very negative consequences on our health. It can also remove a portion of the aroma, including thiols, which mutes and alters the true aroma of the wine.
7. Sugar & Syrups – These are added to adjust the flavor and make it appeal to more people. It is also added to increase the alcohol content. Adding sugar is starting to be banned in some states. To get around that, wine makers are adding sugar rich grape concentrate to give the same results.
8. Saw Dust – Vintners add saw dust with the intention of giving the wine the tannin flavor and texture without doing the work of aging in barrels. To get that woodsy tannin texture, it would normally be done by aging the wine in wood barrels. Instead, to speed up the process and make more money, some vintners will add sawdust.

People should be allowed a choice in what they are putting into their bodies. Also, if you are working to lean a cleaner and healthier life, which I feel most of us are, why would we want to subject our bodies to such those additives?

Mass wine producers modify their wine similar to the way all mass produced processed foods do. In a lab with lots of chemical additives all around. Where a wine is grown, how it is grown, how much sun, rain, wind etc all gives to the “terroir” of a wine. Good wine makers and good vintners agree that additives should be used sparingly and the wine should be relying on the terroir of a wine, not what they can add to a wine.

Why does any of this matter?

Some side effects to wine additives are:

• Headaches
• Brain Fog
• Poor Sleep
• Nasuea
• Stuffy Nose
• Sneezing

You need to research and do some digging to ensure that you are finding a wine that won’t leave you feeling like crap for days. Just because some of us don’t have short term side effects, do you think consistently putting something like ammonia or ferrocyanide won’t make a difference on your health?

Because it definitely will.

I found this book extremely interesting with finding insights to the good and bad with wine and additives.

But there is hope

They key to avoiding all of this drama and added crap is to do what you should do with everything in your life

– – – – you research and find a company you can trust!!!

I did my research, and it led me to the coolest and most unique company.

It’s a company that works with farmers from all over the world that take pride in using organic and/or bio-dynamic farming methods.

There is one company that is changing the wine game!

I found a company that promises wine that is 100% free of chemical additives, completely organic grapes and no added sugars or sweeteners.

This company even has all of the wine independently tested to ensure that it meets their standards!

Choosing a better wine has given me more power over what I bring into my home and what I put into my body

If you aren’t sure what wine would be right for you, check out my wine profile quiz here!!!

Are you ready to finally try it? Email me at Jennifer@JenniferSleider.com

Or click here to schedule a time to chat with me!

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-Jennifer