Milk products in sparkling wine?

yes

milk can be used for fining

no idea about how legal or common it is

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

Yves,

Skim milk (or casein) is a fining agent. It is used to remove phenolic compounds from the wine. These may give a harsh or flabby character to the palate, which the winemaker wants to remove. Fining agents are generally insoluble in wine, and they simply strip an undesirable character, then settle to the bottom of the tank as solids.

It is generally believed by winemakers that there are no traces of milk left behind - in particular the proteins that might cause an allergic reaction. However, it is now known that galactose traces remain (milk sugar), and because current analytical methods may not be sophisticated enough to pick up low levels of proteins, the labelling regulations now require it to be mentioned.

It is a very common fining agent, and has been used for many years - the only difference is that the label must now mention it if it was used. Milk is actually fairly innocuous, when you consider that ox blood used to be a common fining agent! Milk is legal in Australia, but I cannot speak for any other countries - I would be surprised if it was illegal though, along with isinglass, gelatine, and other fining agents.

Cheers,

Andrew