Wine ‘Additives’

Wine today, whether it’s from the United States or a place you have never heard of, is better than it has ever been.

The use of gum arabic, sometimes called guar gum, a byproduct of Acacia trees, helps to deal with bitter tannins in astringent red wines. It is also widely used in the production of many foods. elena moiseeva/Shutterstock

Anti-alcohol people who would like to see a reinstatement of prohibition occasionally suggest that wine is little more than chemicals added to grape juice before or after it’s fermented.

They like to argue that the U.S. government permits chemicals to be added to wine. Which is partially true. But almost no “additives” are in the final product. A few are used during the processing of wine, but most of them are filtered out before the wine reaches consumers.