PIX: JeffSiegel on MegaPurple....

Interesting article by JeffSiegel on the use of MegaPurple in Calif red wines:
https://pix.wine/the-drop/mega-purple-explainer/.

I particularly liked DougFrost's comment:

“I think it’s an easy target, but maybe I trust winemakers more than some people,” says Doug Frost, MS, MW, the owner of Washington state’s Echolands Winery. “A tiny dose of Mega Purple could help wines get slightly higher scores, and I think that’s demonstrated by the way too many wine writers respond to a wine’s color. I, for one, would never add Mega Purple to my wines, but I think that the pale color of some of my wines signifies a lack of seriousness to some naive writers.”

I, for one, don't get my knickers in a knot over the use of MegaPurple. It's pretty much just a cosmetic thing, like filtering a wine.
I was tasting one time w/ a winemaker who used MegaPurple in her CabFranc (a wine that sells around $50). I tasted the before & after
and, struggle as I could, was not able to taste/smell the difference, other than visually in the color. Then...big mistake... I asked if I could taste
the pure/unadulterated MegaPurple. Molly put a few drops on a spoon & I likcked it off. Yowser... unbelievably bitter. The stain lasted on my tongue
for several days. A lot like tasting unadulterated squid ink...another big mistake I once made.

Interestingly, MegaPurple is made only from HaroldOlmo's RubiRed grape, a tenturier. I wonder why it is preferred to something like AlicanteBouschet??

I would think it would not be too difficult for some of you bright folks to hack into the Vie-Del (MegaPurple owner) computers and find out exactly who is
buying the stuff and exactly what high-end Napa Cabernets are cheating on us. Come on...WineBerserkers....step up your game here!! [stirthepothal.gif]

Anyway...an interesting read that doesn't offer up a whole lot of facts.

Tom

[Jenise]

Maybe it's harder to detect in a dark wine like cab franc than, say, a fairer wine like pinot noir? Friends and I gathered to taste about 25 pinot from California and Oregon about two years ago, and scattered amongst them (deliberately) were five or six wines from the Wagners who are known to use this stuff. All the wines were served blind, but I was able to pick out the Wagners. And it wasn't just color, it was taste. There was something plastic about them.