Mega Purple in Napa

[Michael_Martin]

There are all kinds of things added to wine to guide its “natural” progress or worse, “manufacture” it to a taste profile. Back sweetening, hydrating, acidifying are not shocking terms to a winemaker.

[Wes_Barton]

If, for example, Ridge came out and said they added it to Monte Bello, would it make the wine worse? Would people stop drinking it?

Yes I would stop buying…it would be a breach of trust (unless of course they said…we are using it publicly). Agree with most other comments here----I think the usage is high but no one will admit to it.

Being open about it would be a breach of trust, while keeping quiet is fine. Got it! Yes, that’s how the world works. We’ve already seen it with Ridge disclosures of their occasional minor adjustments, with various Chicken Littles starting threads. No good deed goes unpunished.

[John_Telford]

If, for example, Ridge came out and said they added it to Monte Bello, would it make the wine worse? Would people stop drinking it?

Yes I would stop buying…it would be a breach of trust (unless of course they said…we are using it publicly). Agree with most other comments here----I think the usage is high but no one will admit to it.

Being open about it would be a breach of trust, while keeping quiet is fine. Got it! Yes, that’s how the world works. We’ve already seen it with Ridge disclosures of their occasional minor adjustments, with various Chicken Littles starting threads. No good deed goes unpunished.

Confused by your note but I am sure it is a good one. So sure!

[Wes_Barton]

Grocery store wine that is $5 -$20 is the prime segment that may use it. My wife who doesn’t have the most refined palate can tell the “altered sweetness” in wines in that price point segment. Its off putting and kind of obvious. Another reason why finding enjoyable widely available $10-$20 wine can be tough.

It’s a wild assumption that you can recognize it when you taste it. That serves to reinforce a conceptualization, which may be false. There’s going to be a lot of crap on grocery store shelves. Their main job is to be shelf stable. Sweetness is there because it sells. There are plenty of ways to achieve sweetness. Grocery store plonk is going to use a lot of central valley grapes, which aren’t only cheap, but ripe. If it’s not very good, it’s probably just a bunch of stuff thrown together, which includes big, ripe, etc. grapes, then maybe a little unfermented juice added post-ferment, along with preservatives to prevent anything happening in the bottle.

The fact some high-end Napa producers sometimes use concentrates belies the claim that they necessarily make a wine taste cheap. They add them to make a wine “better”, more true-to-their-house-style, whenever necessary. They do it because it garners higher ratings, more prestige, more sales, a consistent product.

The only time I’ve knowingly had a wine that had Mega Purple in it was from a winemaker proud about what he’d made from some bulk market Pinot Noir lots. Blending and adjusting, making a good Pinot Noir that tasted like Pinot Noir, and anyone on here would think was a good deal at $25, but his client would be selling for $15. Balanced, moderate alcohol, good complexity, no goofy sweetness or anything like that.

[Nate_Simon]

“The Napa Valley is infested with Mega Purple. I have here in my hand a list of 205—a list of names of premium Napa Valley wineries who add Mega Purple to their wines and sell them to the public.”

Top-ten post.

[Brent_S]

For $2k a well known wine reviewing publication will sell you a list (48 hours before it goes on their website)

[Aleks_V]

“The Napa Valley is infested with Mega Purple. I have here in my hand a list of 205—a list of names of premium Napa Valley wineries who add Mega Purple to their wines and sell them to the public.”

This is brilliant! Well done!

[larry_schaffer]

Cheaters gonna cheat. If people can gain an advantage in the market and ‘improve’ their product, they will. I know too much in this business. I know a certain natural winemaker that’s a fraud and a liar. Blending or ‘fixing’ wines goes on daily. I can’t imagine a medium bodied Cabernet not being improved with 2-3% of a deep Petite Syrah. MP it’s just another tool. I’ll bet that customer list would be interesting to see.

+1000 my friend . . .

[Ben_M_a_n_d_l_e_r]

I hope this thread goes on forever.

[brigcampbell]

I am curious is Mega Purple just an American invention or is a facsimile used in other parts of the world?

It is definitely an American invention. It’s based on the Rubired grape, another American concoction, because it’s a teinturier grape which means its juice is colored, not clear, it’s used for color adjustment and other things.

Mega Purple

[Bob_Hoelting]

I thought Mega Purple was the stuff that scrapes off your lips in the morning after a long night of Petite Sirah and Amarone?

[Chris_Seiber]

I thought Mega Purple was the stuff that scrapes off your lips in the morning after a long night of Petite Sirah and Amarone?

Or a superhero or villain in a new Marvel movie?

[Stan_Y]

Dang this is perfect, I can put a couple of drops of this stuff in my big-cab-loving sister’s glass of my AFWE wines, right up her alley.

Do they make something like this that turns current-release Bourgogne rouge into 40 year old La Tache?

[Brandon_R]

I guess I’m not clear here. Why is using something Mega Purple “cheating?” I get it, I suppose, if a winery is telling you that the wine is 100% single-vineyard and all of the varieties are on the label, etc. etc. However, if a winery makes an appellation level wine that includes Mega Purple for color or whatever, what’s misleading about that? If someone likes it and it tastes good to them, what’s the problem? Is this entire discussion directed at higher end wines that supposedly use it but extol the virtues of purity and letting the terroir shine through? If so, I guess I can understand.

[Jake_Danberry]

If, for example, Ridge came out and said they added it to Monte Bello, would it make the wine worse? Would people stop drinking it?

I would have to stop purchasing Monte Bello or any wines that I knew had mega purple in it. I suspect several wines that I have had of using mega purple and stopped buying them. I will not name them because it is only my suspicion.

[Phil_T_r_o_t_t_e_r]

Dang this is perfect, I can put a couple of drops of this stuff in my big-cab-loving sister’s glass of my AFWE wines, right up her alley.

Do they make something like this that turns current-release Bourgogne rouge into 40 year old La Tache?

Yes. Mega-Rudy.

[larry_schaffer]

If, for example, Ridge came out and said they added it to Monte Bello, would it make the wine worse? Would people stop drinking it?

I would have to stop purchasing Monte Bello or any wines that I knew had mega purple in it. I suspect several wines that I have had of using mega purple and stopped buying them. I will not name them because it is only my suspicion.

What makes you ‘know’ these wines had mega-purple added to them?

What other ‘additives’ or ‘techniques’, when admitted, would lead you to not purchase?

The topic really is fascinating to me.

Cheers.

[Michael_Martin]

I guess I’m not clear here. Why is using something Mega Purple “cheating?” I get it, I suppose, if a winery is telling you that the wine is 100% single-vineyard and all of the varieties are on the label, etc. etc. However, if a winery makes an appellation level wine that includes Mega Purple for color or whatever, what’s misleading about that? If someone likes it and it tastes good to them, what’s the problem? Is this entire discussion directed at higher end wines that supposedly use it but extol the virtues of purity and letting the terroir shine through? If so, I guess I can understand.

You back up what I was trying to say up thread. Winemakers do many things to move a wine forward. It then becomes more of a discussion of style and whether you agree with that or not. Are they shooting for natural, organic, minimalist or manufactured wines. What are we willing to put up with in order to still purchase that wine. A lot of manufactured wine is sold everyday and people could care less because it’s cheap and fits the flavor profile they like.

[larry_schaffer]

I think the issue here also has to do with ‘truth in advertising’, and that hits ALL levels of the wine biz. IF a winery claims to make ‘natural’ wines but then adds yeast and has a company come in to remove VA, things that run ‘counter’ to their claims, how would you feel as a consumer?

Cheers.

[David_Bu3ker]

I think the issue here also has to do with ‘truth in advertising’, and that hits ALL levels of the wine biz. IF a winery claims to make ‘natural’ wines but then adds yeast and has a company come in to remove VA, things that run ‘counter’ to their claims, how would you feel as a consumer?

Cheers.

Given all the crappy things that occur in so many “natural” wines, I might be relieved.