Tail Questions
"Does Casella Wines [producer of Yellow Tail] add flavor enhancers to their yellow tail wine such as vanilla, almond, or cherry flavoring?"
While I doubt such flavorings are added to Yellow Tail, I don't doubt a number of other flavor/aroma/color additives lurk beneath the smiling 'roo's exterior. So a question to any & all oeno-goeks (spelling just for Ali): What common additives are normally found in mass produced wines such as Yellow Tail? Yummy, isn't it?..
Hi Beau;
The use of additives and other enhancers by wineries are a well-guarded secret and it does not concern only the low-priced wines like Yellow Tail. We'll have a hard time knowing exactly who uses what.I wrote a post on the matter on wineterroirs to encourage awareness on the extent of the practice:
http://www.wineterroirs.com/2006/11/additives.html
Posted by: Bertrand | 12 December 2006 at 02:03 AM
There was a fairly well publicised "scandal" in South Africa last year when several wines were outed by a respected competition judge and journalist for the addition of Pyrazine to their sauvignons. Aparently these flavour enhancements are being touted openly at trade shows and many felt that the problem was quite widespread, and the two wineries in question were made into public flogging horses to raise awareness of the issue.
Posted by: Garry Clark | 12 December 2006 at 11:23 AM
I really approeciate the spelling just for moe. Thanks!
Posted by: Alison | 12 December 2006 at 01:58 PM
Under the Aussie wine laws you can and acid ie citric acid, tartaric acid etc. you can also and tannins in the form of powder, and oak chips for flavour. You can also use the "white snake" i.e. water hose to dilute to the desired flavor profile. As yellow tail is a recipe wine, made to taste the same no matter what, how else can you selll millions of cases, there probably a lot of manipulation going on with yeasts and additives etc.
Posted by: Frank Haddad | 12 December 2006 at 04:24 PM
Bert - very interesting, thanks for the link.
Garry - Pyrazine? Color me hysterical, but I don't want a hetero cyclic aromatic compound added to my wine, thank you.
Ali - Teh funny.
FH - I think most folks in the know have widely accepted chaptalization (adding sugar) and acidification to 'balance' wine. But then, where do we stop?
Posted by: beau | 14 December 2006 at 05:03 PM
I hate Australian wine and it's strange taste so bad!
Posted by: xlpharmacy | 30 November 2011 at 12:59 PM