Imported wine has to contain sulphur oxide to be allowed to enter the US. European wine gets better every year, with some bottles, like some of the 1959 harvest selling for $3000 and more. If European wine matures that good, why does American wine gets worse with time. Like American brewed beer, it has to be consumes within a certain time to keep it's taste. Now, if anybody knows why the FDA requires additional , chemical preservatives in wine and beer, then I wonder why it has to be consumed as soon as possible to retain it's quality. Why ???
2007-12-18 09:23:11 · 5 answers · asked by Walter G 1 in Food & Drink ➔ Beer, Wine & Spirits
The FDA does not require that preservatives be placed in wines or beers. That's the winery's and brewery's decision. Not every wine (and beer) has the same level of alcohol, so some do not preserve as much as others.
Also, wines must be properly kept for their value to go up.
2007-12-18 17:01:39 · answer #1 · answered by dogglebe 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Its a good question - why does wine need additional preservatives as well as alcohol.
The basic answers are that
1) alcohol is only a small percentage of a bottle of wine, say around 12.5%
2) Sulphur Dioxide (not oxide) is added even before the grapes start fermenting to kill harmful bacteria and yeasts.
3) Sulphur dioxide is used to sterilise winemaking equipment, including wine barrels - and some gets into wine
4) Sulphur dioxide is produced naturally during the fermentation process.
So the finished wine contains Sulphur dioxide from that added during the making process and that created naturally during fermentation.
FDA does not require any wine to contain Sulphur dioxide , but it does require the pretty pointless warning message on the label when wine contains a very small amount .
There is no difference between USA and European winemaking where Sulphur dioxide is concerned and this has nothing to do with any differences in aging wines, and American wines do not have to be consumed any earlier than comparable European wines.
However -- maybe you are comparing European wines made and intended for long aging with USA wines made for immediate consumption? If so, that is not comparing like for like. There are plenty of European wines that are best within a year of the vintage, and many USA wines that will age and improve over decades.
2007-12-19 03:02:31 · answer #2 · answered by Pontac 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
1. We are far to paranoid in our country to eat or drink anything that hasn't had the hell processed out of it.
2. American Macro brewers need to be consumed fresh. American Micro brews (called the best in the world by Michael Jackson... Not the pop singer) can be aged just like wine. Just because you haven't experienced the great craft brewing here don't assume all our beer is crap. If I'd only ever had Heineken I'd assume all European beers are crap. But I explored and found out that there are many great beers there.
Check out Bell's Brewery on http://ratebeer.com or http://beeradvocate.com and then tell me American beers suck!
3. Sorry, you didn't actually say they suck. You did however lump all American beers together which makes me mad.
2007-12-18 09:45:44 · answer #3 · answered by Mayor Adam West 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Yeast converts sugar to alcohol and CO2. Do not use yeast to carbonate it if you don't want alcohol in it. You will have to artificially carbonate it. And perservatives like a combination of sulfate and sulfite will prevent fermentation, but again, no fermentation means no bubbles, so you have to carbonate by pumping CO2 into the bottles of wine somehow.
2016-05-24 22:47:13 · answer #4 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
WIne... Never tried
2014-07-14 15:59:59 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋