Milk products in sparkling wine?

Just sent out this piece by email yesterday I've used rich text as related sites are embedded. Cheers! Martin

What's in Australian wine?

Are consumers well-served by Australian wine labelling? Probably not. In an era of legally enforced truth in labelling you can still find Australian wine for sale with labels alleging that the contents are 'champagne', 'white burgundy', 'port', 'sherry', 'tokay' etc.

Yes these labels are gradually and I suspect reluctantly being phased out but local winemakers have ridden on the back of European geographical nomenclature for over a century, happily foisting misnamed wines on an unsuspecting public. I won't even mention the millions of litres of wine made from sultana juice, legally but misleadingly sold as cask 'riesling' until very recently.

But consumers are becoming more educated about food and beverages and they are encouraged in this by media stories about health problems such as cancer and allergenic reactions - rightly or wrongly attributed to chemicals and additives introduced to the food chain. Consequently, one has only to walk down a retail aisle to see shoppers peering at product labels proclaiming 'Fat-free' 'GMO-free' 'No salt' 'No preservatives added' and so forth.

And wine consumers concerned about food purity may be surprised to learn that most wine does not consist solely of the fermented juice of fresh ripe grapes. In fact, Australian wine law permits the use of over 50 additives and processing aids in winemaking. Permitted animal products used include collagen, egg white, enzymes, gelatine, isinglass, lysozyme, milk and milk products. (Source, Food Standards Australia New Zealand.)

Most of these chemicals/additives do not have to be listed on labels but if they are, the ingredients are rarely spelt out in plain English, marketers preferring to use cryptic code numbers that are incomprehensible to many.

Newish wine labelling laws concerning allergens will indicate the presence of some additives but a significant and increasing number of consumers maintain diets that prohibit consumption of products that contain certain additives, or that contain or may have contained animal products.

Just sent out this piece by email yesterday I've used rich text as related sites are embedded. Cheers! Martin

What's in Australian wine?

Are consumers well-served by Australian wine labelling? Probably not. In an era of legally enforced truth in labelling you can still find Australian wine for sale with labels alleging that the contents are 'champagne', 'white burgundy', 'port', 'sherry', 'tokay' etc.

Yes these labels are gradually and I suspect reluctantly being phased out but local winemakers have ridden on the back of European geographical nomenclature for over a century, happily foisting misnamed wines on an unsuspecting public. I won't even mention the millions of litres of wine made from sultana juice, legally but misleadingly sold as cask 'riesling' until very recently.

But consumers are becoming more educated about food and beverages and they are encouraged in this by media stories about health problems such as cancer and allergenic reactions - rightly or wrongly attributed to chemicals and additives introduced to the food chain. Consequently, one has only to walk down a retail aisle to see shoppers peering at product labels proclaiming 'Fat-free' 'GMO-free' 'No salt' 'No preservatives added' and so forth.

And wine consumers concerned about food purity may be surprised to learn that most wine does not consist solely of the fermented juice of fresh ripe grapes. In fact, Australian wine law permits the use of over 50 additives and processing aids in winemaking. Permitted animal products used include collagen, egg white, enzymes, gelatine, isinglass, lysozyme, milk and milk products. (Source, Food Standards Australia New Zealand.)

Most of these chemicals/additives do not have to be listed on labels but if they are, the ingredients are rarely spelt out in plain English, marketers preferring to use cryptic code numbers that are incomprehensible to many.

Newish wine labelling laws concerning allergens will indicate the presence of some additives but a significant and increasing number of consumers maintain diets that prohibit consumption of products that contain certain additives, or that contain or may have contained animal products.

Fining products don't really remain in the product, although there's always a small chance that traces will remain. I know one (excellent) winemaker who tends not to fine his wines these days, not because he prefers it that way but because some people get scared or confused by references on the label to egg white.

Kieran