James Day

Winemaking may conjure images of sun-­dappled vineyards and grand châteaus. But a typical ­bottle of Napa Cabernet owes more to lab-coat-­wearing chemists than to barefoot grape stompers. Like most foodstuffs, wine has been thoroughly industrialized. ­Million-­gallon batches are cooked up in ­behemoth factories in Australia or California’s less-dreamy-­sounding Central Valley and made of grapes that come from just about anywhere. And vintners are under constant pressure to find new ways to save money—California grape prices have shot up 46 percent over the past decade. That leaves ­little room for error. If something goes even slightly wrong in a 350,000-­gallon tank, winemakers can’t afford just to dump it. So they’re turning to science—high tech machines and chemical additives—to doctor their product into something more drinkable. Here’s a look at the secret ingredients and behind-the-scenes manipulation that go into crafting the perfect pour.

The Economics of Mass-Market Wine

Producer Price Index for Wineries

The cost to produce wine has risen 17 percent in the past decade. From high grape prices to storing and shipping all those barrels, the wine business is more expensive than ever.

US Wine Consumption (gallons per resident per year)

At the same time, Americans are drinking more wine, and they’re getting more sophisticated—upgrading from boxes and jugs to more refined 750-ml ­bottles.

__Average Price of a ­Bottle __

But now that consumers are paying more for a ­bottle, they expect better taste across the board. So the industry is deploying a range of tricks and additives to optimize every pour.

What's Really in Your Wine?

Vat-­produced vino can be coaxed into drinkability. You just need the right additives.

Sulfur Dioxide

The most widely used wine additive. It kills microbes and prevents oxidation. Few vintners dare to ­bottle a wine without it, but overuse can make a vino stink like burnt matches.

Ammonium Salts

A touch of diammonium phosphate revives dying yeast and keeps it from producing too much sulfur.

Water

If a batch of vino ends up a bit too boozy, just add some water.

Oak adjuncts

Oak barrels can make wine taste drier and lend it notes of vanilla, but they’re expensive. A cheaper alternative? Oak chips, sawdust, or “essence”—a liquefied wood product that can be added directly to an otherwise finished wine.

Tartaric Acid

A naturally occurring acid found in grapes, it’s particularly critical in white wines, where tartness gives each sip a pleasing snap. Wines with insufficient acidity can get a boost from powdered tartaric acid.

Powdered Tannin

Naturally present in grape skins and seeds as well as oak, tannin creates texture and astringency. Typically made from a growth on oak trees called a nutgall, powdered tannin can punch up lackluster wine.

Sugar

If grapes aren’t ripe enough when picked, adding cane or beet sugar to the must can help them ferment. The catch: Adding sugar, called chaptalization, is illegal in California, Italy, and Australia. (It’s legal in New Zealand, Oregon, and parts of France, though allowed amounts vary.)

Pectic Enzymes

Complex proteins that can be used to alter color, improve clarity, release aromatic compounds, and speed up aging.

Gum Arabic

Made from the sap of the acacia tree, gum arabic softens tannins to reduce astringency and make the wine’s body more silky. This can make a tough and somewhat bitter red wine ready to drink immediately.

Velcorin

(dimethyl dicarbonate) First introduced in the 1980s—though increasingly controversial—this microbial control agent can kill a half-dozen wine-­ruining bacteria and yeasts when added in minute quantities. It’s also widely used in fruit juices.

Mega ­Purple

Made from the concentrated syrup of Rubired grapes, Mega ­Purple is a thick goo that winemakers rely on to correct color issues—a few drops can turn a ­bottle of wine from a weak salmon blush to an appealingly intense crimson—and to make a wine look consistent from batch to batch. In a 119-liter wine barrel, just 200 milliliters is enough to do the trick. Mega ­Purple is made by Constellation Brands, the company behind famous labels like Robert Mondavi and Ravens­wood. While on the record no one will cop to using it (or any other additive), industry insiders say that even high-end winemakers have employed it to deepen the color of their wines, a trait that connotes richness and quality, earns better ratings from critics, and commands higher ­bottle prices.





Rubired is an ascendant force in California’s vineyards. In 2013 it accounted for 5.5 percent of all grapes crushed in California—dead even with Pinot Noir.

How to Perfect Plonk

Three high tech processes for boosting a wine’s flavor, color, and bouquet.

Spinning Cone Column

This technique reduces ­alcohol without altering flavor. Wine is poured through a 16-foot-high tube (1). Inside are spinning (2) and non­spinning (3) cones; the spinning ones are fastened to a rotating central shaft (4). As the wine hits the spinning cones, it's stretched into a thin film. Water and alcohol are vaporized, and the aroma componds are collected (5). The vapor is condensed, alcohol levels are adjusted, and the flavors are added back in.

Micro-­Oxygenation

Wine that isn’t maturing fast enough can be hastened along by piping tiny oxygen ­bubbles into its holding tank. This ­artificial-­maturation process, called micro-­oxygenation (aka MOx), softens the wine. Vintners have to be very careful—too much MOx can spoil the batch.

Reverse Osmosis

This process removes water and ethanol from vino so the winemaker can adjust the concentrations of each in the finished product. Wine is forced against a membrane (1) under high pressure. Big-­molecule flavor compounds stay behind (2), but tinier water and alcohol molecules ­wiggle through (3). A second membrane separates the alcohol from the water (4). Either can be added back into the wine (5) to achieve the desired booziness.

Eero Johannes