Critters In The Crush?

[Dave_Butner]

@kylemittskus

It’s called “terroir.”

Precisely!

[Bruce_G]

Grapes are usually not washed but in some instances they can be. The process can be mechanized if necessary, and made relatively efficient and inexpensive. There’s just no perceived need. Sure, some questionable things might get loaded into the front end of the process… I’ve seen things like rattlesnakes and jackrabbit carcasses in machine-harvested fruit. But that all falls away during the making. And given the pH and alcohol in wine, it’s a safe thing to put in your mouth.

If the thought of all this makes you squeamish then don’t go investigating the fine print of American food production rules and regs… Our government has actually codified the allowable amounts of certain “extraneous” substances allowed in, for example, the average bar of chocolate.

Sometimes ignorance IS bliss.

[Joe_B]

Sometimes. But you cant unknow something.

[Bruce_G]

With enough wine it may be possible, Joe.

[Geir_A]

Joe, you’ve now gotten a peak behind the curtain. If you think it through and still find it troubling, I’d be reeeally worried about consuming most any processed, industrial foodstuff; a lot of the artisanal stuff as well; eating in most any restaurant; hell even drinking water.

The only solution seems to go out into the wild and grow/hunt your own, Walden style. Even there some animal has peed in the creek, bugs abound and you’d have to deal with the critters in your kale first hand. Plus all the water (of uncertain purity) you’d have to haul to wash off your wild grapes if you found or got around to growing them. It’s tough.

[Chris_Seiber]

@Joe B

Sometimes. But you cant unknow something.

The world of growing crops, raising livestock, producing food, etc. is not a sterile laboratory process, and it never was.

And although it’s true there are some bugs and all in the grapes, as a percentage of what’s there, it’s negligible, plus you press away all the juice from the solids and all, plus the alcohol kills the bacteria.

Your surprise at learning about it is understandable, but really, it’s pretty much the last on your list of things to worry about. As someone said earlier, the disinfectant properties of alcohol are one of main reasons people started drinking wine in the first place – it was far safer to drink than the water.

[Ken_Zinns]

@Geir A

Joe, you’ve now gotten a peak behind the curtain. If you think it through and still find it troubling, I’d be reeeally worried about consuming most any processed, industrial foodstuff; a lot of the artisanal stuff as well; eating in most any restaurant; hell even drinking water.

Indeed. I’ve known a couple of people who worked with produce headed for canning or other processing and heard some stories that go way beyond what’s in bins of grapes from the vineyard. And as noted above, those foods do not have the alcohol and acidity that’s in wine - from everything I’ve read, no human pathogens are known to be able to survive in that. When it comes to produce, what’s on grapes going into wine is about the last thing you should be concerned about.

[Carlos_Delpin]

@Joe B

Sometimes. But you cant unknow something.

Tell that to some of our employees! They unknow training very quickly…

[Larry_P]

@Bruce G

With enough wine it may be possible, Joe.

Well said Bruce.

[Dave_Butner]

FDA guidebook, detailing allowable amounts of insects, rodent hair and excrement, listed by food:

http://www.fda.gov/food/guidanceregulation/ucm056174.htm

[Geir_A]

Thanks Dave, I guess…?

Now we can all feel like Joe.

[A_So]

I always wondered why some wines tasted more of blood than others…

[Dave_Butner]

@Geir A

Thanks Dave, I guess…?

Now we can all feel like Joe.

Didn’t make you squeamish, did it? A large percentage of the global population consume those ‘defects’ as a planned part of their menu.

[Joe_B]

@Dave Butner

@Geir A

Thanks Dave, I guess…?

Now we can all feel like Joe.

Didn’t make you squeamish, did it? A large percentage of the global population consume those ‘defects’ as a planned part of their menu.

The can have my share.

[Larry_P]

Just take a drive on I-5, just south of Bakersfield, and tell me you’re not a little squeamish of eating factory-farmed beef

[Craig_G]

@Neal.Mollen

@Larry P

@Joe B

Oh come on. It can’t be that expensive to do a quick rinse.

Seriously. The critter factor is grossing me out. You might as well be stomping on the grapes with your nasty fungus infested feet.

Yuck.

You might want to consider switching to non-fermented beverages.

Seriously, washing grapes would water down the wine, usually considered a Bad Thing just as heavy rain on the day of harvest would be. The reason this is all ok is because S. cerevisiae is a great cleanup crew. It’s the reason people fermented grape juice in the first place and why wine has been drunk for centuries.

This. Your great great great grandfather drank beer or wine or mead as a boy because the water was not safe to drink.

Geez, I didn’t realize you were that old.