What are Wine Additives?

As we’ve previously stated, Organic Certification does not imply that no additives have been added to the wine. Artificial additives such as synthetic sulfur dioxide for preservative-free organic wines or animal-derived fining for vegan wines may be avoided, but there are a variety of different additions available in wine making and we’ll look at the most common.

What are the most common Preservatives used in wine making?

The most popular is sulfur dioxide or SO2 (preservative 220), but potassium metabolite is also used (preservative 224) and antioxidant scorbutic acid is used in white wine. Sulfur is utilized to sanitize equipment, as well as during the harvest, crushing, fermentation, and bottling processes.

Since Roman times, sulfur has been used in wine cellars to prevent the wine from turning to vinegar. Some people are sensitive to sulphites (1% of the population), but for those who can tolerate dried apricots (2000–3000 ppm), Australian dry wine (up on 250 ppm) should not be an issue.

What are Fining Agents and what do they do?

Fining agents have been used for millennia in wine making to clarify, soften, decrease bitterness, and eliminate volatile compounds. Fining binds with and settles (the clear juice is then “racked,” or decanted off), removing proteins, color, polymeric phenol's, and tannin's from the wine chemically or physically.

Many fining agents have historically been derived from animals, but much research has been done in recent years on developing and testing new plant-based fining chemicals, such as pea protein. Now you can easily Buy Organic Wines through Benchmark Wines

What’s the difference between wild and cultivated yeast?

There would be no wine without yeast, and that would be a tragedy. It’s a simple chemical reaction, and it’s fascinating to consider how our ancestors may have discovered that the liquid produced when fruit goes bad and bubbles away is actually pleasant and provides most of us this pleasurable sensation.

Although all yeast convert sugar to alcohol, not all will operate at the same rate or produce the desired impact and flavor. So, some winemakers may elect to use sulphites in the vineyard to destroy wild yeasts, then add laboratory cultured yeast with specified fermentation rates and preferred tastes in the winery.

Benchmark Wines
30 Toh Guan Road Unit #02–01A, 608840 Singapore
6256 5290