WRONG. 100%. Ok, Maybe 99%. I do not care that Constellation has in house counsel. That does not absolve a partner at a major law firm of making a reasonable investigation of the facts beyond simply doing what he is told. Is unethical as a literal matter under the ethics rules. I’m not sure what ethics rules apply, and since there is no pending proceeding it is debatable under other rules, but he either failed to investigate or he closed his eyes to the truth and implied a baseless threat. One of the points I make in the many ethics lectures I teach is, “If it’s a close question, DON’T DO IT!”
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No. Easy answer. Turn the page. Do what you do best. Make more wine.
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Well, we’re just different lawyers. You don’t need to be a jerk about it with me. This is a Wendy’s.
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Take away the glucose+fructose, and the wine looks pretty “normal”. Is it super ripe fruit that they stop fermenting and filter? Or additives to bulk up the body and sweetness?
be wary of an attorney discussing rules of professional responsibility across different jurisdictions.
and old white guys who WRITE IN ALL CAPS.
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A pH of 3.91. I’m terrified if my pHs crack 3.65. I can’t remember the last time we bottled something north of that or, frankly, even close to that. How they keep it bottle stable with all that G/F and a pH that astoundingly high is beyond me. Way beyond me. I’m not talking bottle stable for aging. I’m talking for 1 minute. But then again…
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Yeah most of the winemaking interventions you can take to make a Meiomi-like wine have little impact on anything other than sugar. Probably mostly oak products/adjuncts for flavor and then some body and dark fruit from the concentrate. I’ve had Meiomi many times and there is a lot in there that is making it not taste like Pinot Noir.
Sterile filtration and Velcorin, I would imagine
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And there you have it. Never used Velcorin and really don’t know what it does but I know it comes with some hefty hazard warnings. I’ve never SF a red wine but even just light filtering reds for clarity is a massive pain in the ass. Cannot fathom what it must be like to SF a product like Meomi with all that stuff in it. Must take forever even with a filtration system large enough to do double duty as a small city’s wastewater management system.
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I’ve never had it, but the lowish alcohol surprised me.
It’s possible they don’t sterile filter - I would guess that they do, but Velcorin can be very effective if starting cell counts are low. When I was working on non-alcoholic wines, sterile filtration plus Velcorin was common for whites and reds alike.
But filter clogging on the bottling line isn’t too much of an issue even for reds if you cross flow beforehand. These wines have a lot of color but they don’t have a ton of tannin, and I’m sure the bottling folks at Constellation are filtration masters anyway!
Velcorin is hazardous at high concentrations but is used at low concentrations in the final product and breaks down in just a couple days, so it’s relatively innocuous overall. There’s a materials handling safety component, but the vendor is diligent about safety training. And hazardous materials handling in the winery happens anyway because of sanitation with things like caustic and PAA
Only here to proclaim my ignorance on the topics and am glad that I can do so.
Could the high PH be intentional? Like a popular soda company that rhymes with poke. They add a tremendous amount of sugar per can and cut it with phosphoric acid to make it palatable. So you get the sugar high without being overwhelmed with sweetness.
Perhaps that’s a tactic for the wine. People mentally crave it because of the sugar but the ph helps balance it some.
I’m just totally spitballing so feel free to ignore this if I’m way off base.
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I’m sure it is. Soft and sweet sells. Just for context the pH of tomato juice is right around 4.00.
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It’s why an open bottle of orange juice can sit in the refrigerator for a month.
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Are you confusing how pH works? Coke is very acidic, 2.5-2.7 pH. As you mention, the acidity cuts the sweetness. Meomi is high pH, low acid, at almost 4. They’re definitely not cutting the sweetness much at that pH, they’re basically selling an alcohol milkshake.
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Is it just me or is “as you are no doubt aware” just the most pretentious douchey sentence starter possible?
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Guess I’ll be on the lookout for a demand letter soon!
Oh well, I’ll respond with the same boilerplate I always do! Bring it on!!
Adam is a goddamn champion
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+1
I hate Constellation. Not one drop of their brands is allowed in my house.
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I agree.
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Unfortunately, they happen to own all the beer brands I enjoy drinking at home… 