Sometimes customers ask us about the ingredients in our wines, often because they have read the back-labels and wondered why there is a list of ingredients other than “Wine” – for instance ascorbic acid.
De-alcoholised wines are made as normal alcoholic wines, going through exactly the same processes until the final stage, when the alcohol is gently removed (leaving up to 0.5% alcohol-by-volume). Up until that point, they are simply alcoholic wines, the same you would see in any supermarket or wine cellar.
Some customers see the ingredients and presume they are all additions to the wine as part of the de-alcoholisation process and that de-alcoholised wine is somehow different from alcoholic wine (apart from, of course, the lack of alcohol).
But the reality is alcoholic wines can contain over 50 different additions to the basic wine which, because of an exemption to the law, do not have to be listed on the label.
De-alcoholised wines, because they are less than 0.5% alcohol-by-volume, fall under food labelling regulations and can’t take advantage of this exemption. This means we have to list all ingredients in English (which is why on some of our wines we have to put our own back labels on them).
However, the Food Standards Agency is now seeking an end to this exemption for alcoholic wine, which should at least mean consumers will know what is in their alcoholic wine, as they already do with their de-alcoholised wine, and can make an informed decision on which wines to drink. This Telegraph article makes interesting reading about just what is allowed in wine at the moment without having to be listed on the labels.
By the way, ascorbic acid is Vitamin C and is added to wines, usually with Sulphur Dioxide, to prevent oxidation and keep the wine fresh.
Tags: de-alcoholised wine, EU, food standards agency, FSA, ingredients, law, wine
