ask a sommelier

Why isn’t there an ingredient list on wine?

—M. Stewart

Wine is an alcoholic beverage made from fruit. During wine production, winemakers can add ingredients as tools to turn grape juice into a clear, drinkable wine. However, most of the items added to wine are actually removed in the filtration process and therefore don’t need to be included on the label.

Wine contains microscopic particles. Winemakers want to remove these particles (a process called fining) to make a more shelf-stable product for their consumers and to produce a clean wine. Most particles are so small that the winemaker must use certain processing aids (e.g., egg whites, among others) to cluster together the undesired particles. These compounds attract the undesired particles, creating a larger bundle that can now be filtered out. Added materials are also filtered out in that process, leaving incredibly small trace amounts. Many studies have shown that the trace amounts left over (measured in parts per million) pose no threat to consumers. In fact, Health Canada has run their own tests to ensure that the residual amounts of natural additives are too small to elicit an allergic reaction in even the most foodsensitive wine lover.

On the topic of allergens, some wine labels say “contains sulphites.” Sulphites occur naturally in grapes, and winemakers harness them to preserve wine. If you are sensitive to sulphites, look for “no added sulphites” on labels.

Rules for additions to wines vary among wine regions—Old World wineries have much stricter rules than New World. In order to manipulate flavour and perception, some winemakers add ingredients like sulphites, tannin powder, tartaric acid, sugar, and a grape concentrate called Mega Purple (for deeper red colours)—but it can be argued that these ingredients are actually naturally occurring in grapes. Does that mean that the “only” added ingredient in a bottle of wine is in fact “grapes”? No, but it is a grey enough area that wineries have not been mandated to list exactly what has gone into the production of the wine.

—Ricki-Lee Podolecki

Which wine varieties age better than others? For instance, does Pinot Noir age better than Cabernet Sauvignon?

—Bob Puchniak

Most classic grape varieties have the potential to age well, but the age-ability of an individual wine depends upon a balance of fruit intensity, sweetness, acidity, alcohol, and the texture and concentration of tannins.

Different varieties, however, achieve balance in different ways. Cabernet Sauvignon has great aging potential because of intense fruit concentration, high levels of firm tannins, high acidity, and a capacity to absorb the life-extending elements of new oak—try the Typesetter 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley ($76.99). Pinot Noir typically has less intense fruit and lower levels of finer tannins, but it also has high acidity and an affinity for oak. I suggest Gachot-Monot 2020 Les Chaillots Côte de Nuits-Villages from France ($79.99). Riesling—possibly the variety with the greatest natural aging potential—relies on fruit extract, high acidity and, frequently, residual sugar (Riesling does not rely on tannins or oak). Try the Rabl 2020 Langenlois Riesling Kamptal from Germany ($25.99). So, a tannic, concentrated Cabernet Sauvignon or a less tannic, lower-extract Pinot Noir may age equally well if they are of high quality and balanced.

Age-worthy reds from Nebbiolo, Sangiovese, Syrah, and Tempranillo, to name but a few, are variations on that theme. Alternatively, wines from Viognier and Sauvignon Blanc are almost invariably best served young, as are soft, fruity wines. In fact, the vast majority of today’s wines are built to be consumed upon release, although many drink well for several years.

—Gary Hewitt

Why is it so hard to buy inexpensive Canadian wines in Manitoba?

—Kathy Schwartz

Manitoba is unique in that the MBLL doesn’t see an advantage in lowering taxes on Canadian wine so that we can highlight our national industry. Other provinces—in particular, BC—have lower markups on Canadian wine producers and wine stores that carry only Canada Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA) wines. In Manitoba, Canadian wines are saddled with the same provincial government markup (95%) as every other wine that is brought into the province from anywhere in the world.

In addition, it is not cheap to produce wine in Canada. The high costs of land, business, production, and labour mean that producing wine for less than $10 a bottle becomes nearly impossible. Then put that $10 bottle through our provincial government’s markup system, and it comes out at over $20 on the other side.

This means that the many Manitobans who want to support quality Canadian VQA wine cannot find any at their desired price point. And what with the increased cost of, well, everything, I don’t see our selection getting better without a serious look at the markup structure for Canadian wines.

—Mike Muirhead

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