One of my biggest concerns with flabby, high pH, low acid wines has been their potential for microbial instability. But fear no more, for there's Velcorin! It's an additive consisting of dimethyl dicarbonate common not only in wine processing but also food processing that kills bacteria and yeast quite literally from the inside. That eliminates one obvious path for spoilage, especially in high pH wines where sulfites are ineffective except in massive doses.
Sounds great, right? Not so fast, my friend. This stuff is toxic to handle--after all, it penetrates cell membranes and inhibits cells from functioning. It apparently breaks down (hydrolyzes) to methanol and carbon dioxide quite rapidly, but methanol is not something we can consume safely in any measurable quantity. The good news is the requisite dosing is quite small, so we really don't need to worry about an appreciable level of methanol in our wine or fruit juice. But that does raise the question, is this a risk we need to be taking? A mistake in handling or dosing does indeed poses a risk for humans.
Like all of these concerns involving wine adjustments, this is a serious gray area. Do we trust Fred Franzia and his Bronco Wine Co. to use this tool in a safe manner? Do we trust conglomerates like Diageo, Foster's and Constellation to act responsibly? At the very least, Velcorin should be listed as an additive. But since it is a "secondary food additive" the FDA does not require it to be documented in any way. To be quite blunt, we should have access to the additives in our food in drink. If Velcorin or Mega-Purple was added to the wine, then list it. Of course, it will take FDA regulations and enforcement for this to happen. I wouldn't be holding my breath on this one. I'm in no way opposed to the use of sound chemistry as a tool, but disclosure is important to keep consumers informed.
For more on Velcorin, check out an older post over on Pinot Blogger. The comments are worth a read as well. W. Blake Gray's more recent post on Mega-Purple is also an interesting read.
Sounds great, right? Not so fast, my friend. This stuff is toxic to handle--after all, it penetrates cell membranes and inhibits cells from functioning. It apparently breaks down (hydrolyzes) to methanol and carbon dioxide quite rapidly, but methanol is not something we can consume safely in any measurable quantity. The good news is the requisite dosing is quite small, so we really don't need to worry about an appreciable level of methanol in our wine or fruit juice. But that does raise the question, is this a risk we need to be taking? A mistake in handling or dosing does indeed poses a risk for humans.
Like all of these concerns involving wine adjustments, this is a serious gray area. Do we trust Fred Franzia and his Bronco Wine Co. to use this tool in a safe manner? Do we trust conglomerates like Diageo, Foster's and Constellation to act responsibly? At the very least, Velcorin should be listed as an additive. But since it is a "secondary food additive" the FDA does not require it to be documented in any way. To be quite blunt, we should have access to the additives in our food in drink. If Velcorin or Mega-Purple was added to the wine, then list it. Of course, it will take FDA regulations and enforcement for this to happen. I wouldn't be holding my breath on this one. I'm in no way opposed to the use of sound chemistry as a tool, but disclosure is important to keep consumers informed.
For more on Velcorin, check out an older post over on Pinot Blogger. The comments are worth a read as well. W. Blake Gray's more recent post on Mega-Purple is also an interesting read.
