Yes, there is a wine ingredient called Mega Purple
And it's more common than youād think.
Once you know how to spot it, youāll taste it everywhere.
And youāll never look at cheap red wine the same way again. š§µš·
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.
Itās grape-derivedābut that doesnāt mean itās good.
It started as a way to rescue weak vintages. But now itās everywhere.
If youāre drinking wine from a box, or paying under $15 a bottle, especially for jammy redsāthereās a good chance Mega Purple is in the mix.
Think of it as a type of pancake style makeup for wine.
You wonāt find it on the label. Wine doesnāt 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 fruitālike overcropped vines, underripe grapes, or wine rushed through fermentation.
And if itās in there, it probably came with friends:
Velcorin, powdered tannins, added sugar, oak flavoring, enzymes, coloring agents.
At that point, itās 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 whatās actually in their wine.
Iāll 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!
