Yes, there is a wine ingredient called Mega Purple

And it's more common than you’d think.

Once you know how to spot it, you’ll taste it everywhere.

And you’ll never look at cheap red wine the same way again. 🧵🍷

Mega Purple is a thick, sweet, inky extract made from a grape called Rubired.

Just a small dose adds deep color, smooth texture, and a candied finish to otherwise forgettable wine.

It’s grape-derived—but that doesn’t mean it’s good.

It started as a way to rescue weak vintages. But now it’s everywhere.

If you’re drinking wine from a box, or paying under $15 a bottle, especially for jammy reds—there’s a good chance Mega Purple is in the mix.

Think of it as a type of pancake style makeup for wine.

You won’t find it on the label. Wine doesn’t have to list ingredients.

But there are signs:

- Over-the-top purple color

- Sticky sweetness

- Flavors like grape jelly, vanilla extract, and artificial chocolate

Mega Purple is often used to mask poor fruit—like overcropped vines, underripe grapes, or wine rushed through fermentation.

And if it’s in there, it probably came with friends:

Velcorin, powdered tannins, added sugar, oak flavoring, enzymes, coloring agents.

At that point, it’s more of a science experiment than wine.

Wine made with better grapes and fewer tricks costs more.

That wine tells a story. Real terroir, real flavors, real art.

But more importantly, Low Intervention wine will probably leave you feeling a hell of a lot better the day after drinking it.

What's that worth?

Most people have no idea what’s actually in their wine.

I’ll be posting more about how to find bottles worth drinking and how to see past the veil the industry hides behind.

If this helped you, it'd help me if you liked or reNOSTed the first post or followed along!

Cheers!