Often buyers of inexpensive wine Russian production ask the question - is it not "powder"? Let's find out what this "powder" wine is and what it is eaten with.

Usually "powder" is considered to be a cheap wine released to a little-known general public. Russian manufacturer... It is understood that in its production, instead of fermentation of grape must, a certain "wine powder" is used, which is diluted with water with the addition of alcohol. Opinions differ regarding the composition of this powder: according to optimists, "wine powder" is produced by evaporation of grape juice and is generally a natural product. Pessimists believe that it is made by mixing sugar, citric acid, food colors and all kinds of flavors.

How true is this legend and what is it based on?
First, after the collapse of the USSR, most wine regions- Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia - found themselves outside the borders of Russia. Although in recent years, domestic viticulture and winemaking has been developing very actively, which is facilitated by government support measures, still wine produced in Russia from grapes grown here covers only about 30% of market needs. Bottled imports account for about the same or slightly less, but imported wines are much more expensive and not affordable for all consumers.

The remaining market share is occupied by Russian-made wines (and according to the law, the bottling line is considered the place of production of an alcoholic beverage), which are made from imported wine materials purchased from different countries and imported into the country in bulk tanks - in the slang of winemakers, these wine materials are called bulk.

The term "wine material" means dry wine, intended for subsequent further processing. In the simplest case, it is simply bottled and put on sale, but it can be blended, i.e. to mix different varieties for a more interesting bouquet, keep in oak barrels or champagne - almost all inexpensive sparkling wine, produced in Russia, are prepared precisely from the bulk.

Most of these wines are produced at little-known wineries located near large cities - during the Soviet industrialization, they were placed closer to consumers and skilled labor, and raw materials could be imported from any region.

Most of these wines are of quite acceptable quality, although complaints about them are still not uncommon. The fact is that bulk, as a rule, is purchased on the spot market, where it will turn up cheaper, one batch from Spain - another from Chile or Moldova. Therefore, there are frequent cases when, when trying to buy a wine he likes, a customer is faced with a drink that is completely different in taste - albeit bottled in exactly the same bottle. On the back label, on back side, you can read the inscription in small print: "Made from dry wine material."

A person who is far from familiarizing himself with the intricacies of wine-making technologies immediately comes up with a certain concentrate powder - although at the same time, reading the inscription "dry wine" on the label, he does not at all expect that there will be some "powder" under the cork. This is one of the reasons for the emergence of the legend of "powdered wine".

There is another. In the 90s, in the markets of coastal resort villages in the Crimea, on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus, in the southern regions of Ukraine, semi-underground trade in cheap "house wine" in plastic egg bottles was very widespread. Sometimes it really was a simple home-made "dry land", but very often enterprising traders simply took a dry concentrate popular at that time like "Invite" or "Yuppi" and diluted it with water with the addition of vodka.

The resulting liquid was not in any way wine - in modern parlance, it was a typical surrogate - but it was moderately sweet, moderately sour and contained alcohol. Among inexperienced vacationers who were primarily interested in the alcohol content, and not the taste and aroma, these surrogates, due to their cheapness, sold out with a bang. And the entire local district knew that "Baba Manya drives wine from powder."

Actually, these two very real reasons, bizarrely combined in the mass consciousness, gave rise to the myth of "powder wine". And to what extent is it possible and realistic to produce wine - real wine, and not a substitute - from any "dry concentrates"? After all, they are used for the production of juices and nectars. concentrated juices shipped from exotic countries? ..

Firstly, the cost of one liter of imported wine material is about $ 0.6-0.8, or about 40-50 rubles for our money, but in some cases (low quality, excess harvest, etc.) below. There is no economic sense for manufacturers to bother with "evaporation" and subsequent "recovery". The costs of "production" of such wine are reduced in the simplest case to bottling and labeling, and are more than offset even in the lowest-budget segment.

Defective wine material, which has obvious flaws in taste and aroma and is unsuitable for direct bottling, can be purchased even cheaper. To correct the taste, sweeteners (usually ordinary sugar), acidity regulators ( citric acid) and other ingredients. Often, the content of the original wine material in such a drink is only 50% by volume.

The law does not allow the resulting product to be called wine, and it is labeled as " wine drink"- on the shelves of chain stores, such swill can be found in paper bags at a price of about 100 rubles per liter, if not cheaper. It is completely safe for health, but about any taste ah it is not necessary to speak. Such products also find their consumers among the hunters for cheap degrees.

At the same time, the level of state control over the alcohol industry in Russia today is extremely high, and none of the legal producers will risk an expensive license for a penny profit. Than to chew with "powders", it is much easier to absolutely legally drive a cheap shmurdyak by writing "wine drink" on the label.

There is one more thing - a technological one. In the process of making wine, in the course of yeast fermentation, not only the natural grape sugar contained in the wort is converted into alcohol, but also many other chemical processes. As a result natural wine- no matter whether good or bad - does not taste like grape juice... And it is impossible to prepare "wine" by adding water and alcohol to a concentrate of grape juice - no matter whether it is dry or pasty. You can easily verify this for yourself: take a packet of grape juice, add a little vodka there and try it. You will get vodka with grape juice, and the resulting "cocktail" will be completely different from wine.

Today no one is surprised. Almost 100% of the drinks that are sold in stores today are precisely diluted concentrate. That is, the juice was initially thickened to make its transportation more convenient, and then diluted with water. With this, everything is more or less clear. Do you know what powder wine is? This is a working model of modern winemaking, which allows you to get a lot of inexpensive raw materials.

Have you ever been surprised by the abundance of wines in the shops? Surely each of you wondered if they are really natural. And what is powdered wine will surely interest the lovers of this drink.

Grape wine preparation technology

Let's first remember how classic drink... Natural table, dry, semi-dry and prepared only by fermentation of grape must. And in the process are not added ethanol and concentrates. Thus, if you are reading about natural powdered wine, then something is clearly wrong here.

It can be assumed, that it comes about the production of wine from concentrated, dried, and then diluted juice, but more often than not this is not the case. Wine material is fermented grape must, that is, juice that has been processed and stabilized. It is impossible to make a concentrate from this alcohol-containing raw material, due to the low boiling point and, as a consequence, the high volatility of alcohol.

Almost natural

Above, we described how the preparation of natural grapes in the original takes place. However, this drink is produced not only in southern countries where vineyards grow, but also in the most northern regions where vines can only be grown in greenhouses. What is the raw material here? Of course, it is problematic to carry, due to the need for large volumes, therefore it is the evaporated and dried grape juice that is used. On the spot, it is diluted with water and then fermented.

Such production is a violation technological process, the result is a "natural" powder wine, which professional winemakers contemptuously call "sticky". However, for a common man in the street, it is practically impossible to distinguish him from the present.

Wine without wine

However, there is another type of drinks on the market that are sold under the wine brand. Let's make a reservation right away that it is difficult to determine by the bottle what kind of wine is powder. There are indirect signs, which we will talk about further, but these are only guidelines. It is not always possible to identify a fake and taste. The only exceptions are specialists, tasters and true connoisseurs who can appreciate the color and aroma of the drink.

Basically, it is a mixture of alcohol, flavors and water. There is no need to expect any benefit from it for the body. On the other hand, if the manufacturer uses quality ingredients, there will be no harm either.

Pros for the manufacturer

Of course, it is much more profitable to make powdered wine. The process of transporting raw materials is greatly simplified, logistics becomes cheaper, which means that more final product can be produced in record time.

Evaporated grape juice with the addition of alcohol, yeast and flavorings does not require special conditions storage. The final drink does not "get sick", does not become covered with a film, but does not ripen either. That is, years will pass, but it will not get better, as is the case with quality wine. Understandably, the lowest-grade drink - a mixture of alcohol, dyes and flavors - is a cheap knock-off that shouldn't be called wine.

Examining the bottle

There are a number of points to pay attention to. True, none of them directly says that this is a natural product, but indirectly it still indicates this:

• The label must contain all information about the country of origin, the plant where the wine was produced, its composition, alcohol content.
• The date of manufacture is necessarily present on the label, and it is stamped on the label separately, and not printed in a common field.
• The label must be on high level... Blurred drawing is inadmissible.
• Refuse immediately from the purchase inexpensive wine in an overly pretentious bottle. In this case, the manufacturer invests more money in packaging and cares little about the quality of the product.

Now turn the bottle into the light and flip it sharply downside down. Availability a large number sediment should be suspicious. A small amount of it can be in quality wine, but such a suspension will quickly settle.

Be sure to pay attention to the cork. It shouldn't crumble or smell bad. These are the first signs that the drink was improperly stored or was spoiled.

Express diagnostics

If you are going to present a bottle as a gift, then it is very important that the drink is truly natural. So let's talk about how to tell the difference between powdered wine. Attention to the label. Powdered surrogate cannot be aged or branded. There are also no dry artificial wines. That is, it is among this category that it is better to choose a gift.

When in doubt, take one bottle per sample. Pour some of the drink into a wide glass. When it rotates, "tracks" should remain on the walls. They are called “legs of wine”. The longer they last, the better the wine is considered. Moreover, the thinner they are, the older the drink. This is the first way to tell the difference between powder and natural wine. There are many of them, although, we repeat, any of them does not give 100% of the result.

The most reliable way

Cork the bottle and shake well. It is required to shake vigorously in order for the foam to form. Now fill the glass with wine. Here again we recall physics. Depending on the density of the beverage in the bottle, the foam will behave differently. Natural drink forms a beautiful cap in the center of the glass. At the edges, the foam does not collect at all, in addition, it falls off very quickly. If you see such a picture, then you can be sure that this is natural wine.

If it was based on water with concentrates and flavors, then the foam will instantly disperse around the edges, stick to the walls and hold on enough long time... In this case, there is no need to talk about naturalness.

We continue to experiment

The next step can be an analysis of the taste of the drink. First of all, you should appreciate the aroma. Have natural look it is full-bodied, thick and rich. Drinks made from reconstituted powder have a pungent smell due to the addition of chemical flavors. Although it will be difficult to distinguish something like that without preparation, this is what the manufacturer expects.

Take a sip of the drink. Since it is very difficult to identify sweet powdered wine, try to avoid dessert drinks... All flavors in them are successfully masked by the sweetness. But semi-sweet and semi-dry can be recognized by the aftertaste, which is absent in powdered wines.

Assessing the presence of dye

Real wine itself has saturated color and does not need to be strengthened. Do a little experiment. You will need a wide-mouth glass medicine bottle. Be sure to choose a bubble with clear glass walls. You will also need a clear glass of water.

Then the matter is small. Fill the bottle with wine and lower it into the glass, covering the neck with your finger. After that, the finger is removed and the result is observed. The gravity of natural wine is very different from. They never mix without effort on your part. The counterfeit is water with additives, so the liquid in the glass will instantly turn red, pink or orange.

If you are looking for an easy way to tell the difference between real and powdered wine, then you can assume that you have already found it. If, after removing your finger, the water remains clean and transparent, then you are exactly in front of a product made from grape juice.

Pharmacy glycerin

There is another proven way to distinguish Home wine from powder. You will need a glass and regular glycerin, which is sold in any pharmacy. You will need to pour some wine into the glass, which needs verification for authenticity. Enough 50-70 ml, the rest can be used for its intended purpose. Gently add about 10 ml of glycerin. Just a few seconds and testing is over.

If glycerin smoothly descends to the bottom of the glass without changing its appearance, which means that this is natural wine. In powdered wine, glycerin instantly changes color, it turns yellow or red.

Plain soda

Another proven method. To do this, take a glass of wine and pour some baking soda into it. Now watch the reaction carefully. Natural wine contains grape starch. These two substances will react, as a result of which you will see how the drink changes. It usually gets greenish, grayish or bluish tints. Powdered wine will not change.

We collect information about manufacturers

Most reliable way how to determine whether the wine is natural or powder in front of you is to make inquiries about the manufacturer and its products in advance. Not a single serious company that has been producing vintage wines for many years will engage in counterfeiting. Of course, such products are more expensive, but the quality is guaranteed to you.

Manufacturing plants that have been growing like mushrooms in recent years do not have their own raw materials and production facilities... Consequently, they will use surrogate raw materials and saturate the market with powdered wine. Pay attention to the cost. The low price suggests that this is definitely an artificial product.

Our fellow citizens sometimes cannot be denied vigilance. The incrimination of both domestic and foreign manufacturers in poor quality goods and services is a kind of folk hobby. There is a lot of evidence of this in the form of various TV programs. On the one hand, this cannot but arouse respect, but on the other hand, in the place where completely contradictory facts, mixed with paranoia and sometimes low education, collide head-on, delusions are born, from which it is then difficult or completely impossible to get rid of (products with GMOs are one of the loudest examples). Wine being pretty popular drink, also did not remain without public attention: the arithmetic average opinion is that there is one fake in all stores. Which drinks to qualify as counterfeit is a separate question, but the so-called powdered wine has long and reliably occupied its niche in this category.

- Confusion in concepts -

A wide segment of consumers believes that the concepts of "wine material" and "powdered wine" are related by kinship. One has only to see the words "dry wine material" on the label, and the idea of ​​chemistry, a surrogate and a conspiracy among winemakers immediately arises. The malnutrition continues to live even after their debunking, so prevention should be carried out regularly: dry wine material is ordinary dry wine made on one farm, but sent to a completely different place for bottling. Powdered wine is a different song.

- Eureka! -

In search of the roots of powdered wine as a phenomenon, one can stumble upon a patent of a method for the production of grape and fruit-berry wines by fermentation, filed on November 27, 1952 to the Ministry Food Industry THE USSR. The initial motive was to obtain such raw materials that would not deteriorate for a long time and had a compact transportable appearance, so that then to make wine out of it according to the approach mentioned above. First, the juice is filtered, removing large fractions from it. The resulting wort is subjected to heat treatment: it can be spraying on drum dryers, sublimation or other convenient specific case way.

- Two reasons to dry -

The manufacturer may either have an interest in maintaining viability wine yeast, which were present in the grape must before drying, or in its complete termination, in order to ferment on cultural yeast. Based on the assigned task, temperature regime... At the end, we have a concentrate, which is packed in containers and briquetted.

- By law and by conscience -

The invention made it possible to realize their winemaking ambitions with a minimum of effort, which shook the very foundations of this noble occupation. While some winemakers extract their product with sweat and blood, others act on the principle of “just add water”. Rather, not water, but yeast, alcohol and flavorings. On the other hand, there is also a place for its own ethics: it is enough to indicate on the label "Special wine", and from a legal point of view, you will honestly inform the consumer what is in front of him powder product... By the way, the production of concentrate does not know the definition of “substandard”, because not only whole, but also crumpled berries are used.

- Taste and color -

The difference between natural products and “bodyagi” begins to show through already on the store shelf - the prices of powdered wine are low to the point of obscenity. Tara also draws a border - winemaking ethics does not allow packaging an excellent product in tetra-packs. Now let's see what's inside. Powdered wine does not inspire gourmets to roll wine across the tongue and palate and search for notes; the note in such a wine - both flavoring, aromatic, and color - is usually one, and it sounds deafeningly loud. The watery consistency and the absence of marks on the glass (the so-called "ladies' legs") will be the final proof that this is the wine "from the bag".

- Memo -

To protect yourself as much as possible from buying powdered wine, it is advised to follow these simple rules:

1. Buy wines only in glass containers;

2. read the label carefully;

3. Look for vintage wines, that is, those with the vintage indicated;

4. choose dry wines - they cannot be made from powder.

- True or fiction? -

Taking into account all of the above, it is necessary to take into account the opinion of some experts who mention powder wine as a folk fiction and put this phrase in quotation marks. There are two arguments in favor of the mythical nature of such a wine, and both speak about the unprofitability of this kind of venture. Firstly, additional production space and capacity are required in order to evaporate the grape must to a powder state. Secondly, the European Union willingly supports the export of wine materials outside the Eurozone with subsidies, which makes the production of wine from foreign material strikingly cheaper than diluting the concentrate, which, we repeat, still needs to spend a certain amount of electricity. However, there are experimenters referring to the experience of buying a dry mixture of dried fruits and berries for the production of red, white and rosé wines, close to Californian tastes, from the Bordeaux region, etc., which leaves the discussion about powdered wine open.

If you are a fan of exquisite and natural products, then you definitely need to familiarize yourself with powdered wine, which is quite often found in stores in the CIS today. This is a special kind of alcoholic products that can completely and completely copy the organoleptic properties of modern natural wine assemblies, but at the same time not use grapes in their composition.

Before determining what kind of wine you bought in the store, powder or natural, try to figure out what this very powder is from which the drink is made. In fact, modern powder wine is an alcoholic product that is made on the basis of grape must with the addition of the most various ingredients to stabilize flavor and aroma colors.

It is the cheapest type of wine on the market and is correct preparation in taste ambitions can be compared with the best representatives of France and Italy. At the same time, the quality of this product leaves much to be desired, and the components often used in its manufacture can seriously harm the consumer's body.

Color

The visual design of powder products can be very diverse. It relies mainly on the characteristics of the additional ingredients used.

Scent

Aromatic characteristics are the result of added stabilizers and flavorings. They can also be very diverse.

Taste

The taste is based on the personal preference of the manufacturer. By adding sweeteners pure sugar and others nutritional supplements, you can achieve almost any bright shade.

Did you know? Due to the dynamic proliferation of powdered drinks between 1998 and 2003, many well-known factories had to reduce their assortment. So, for example, 72 ports, Anapa and Kavkaz have disappeared from the shelves.

How to make wine from powder

It doesn't take much talent and effort to make wine from concentrate. Such products can be produced at any convenient time. The main thing is to have on hand powder, water, a little alcohol and various flavoring additives... The creation of a product is made by mixing ingredients and then adding flavorings and sugar to taste.

How to distinguish powder from natural wine at home

If you do not have the proper amount of experience in recognizing alcoholic products and want to know how to check whether wine is powdered or not, we recommend that you pay attention to the following points:

• Tara. Try to buy only bottled drinks. Natural alcohol is stored only in glass.
• Study the label. Try to find the phrase "natural wine" in the product description. If you do not see this inscription or the manufacturer has indicated “ special wine", Then you have a powder surrogate in your hands.
• It is best to give preference to dry wines aged at least 1.5 years. They are considered the most natural.

• Try to get drinks that have the grape harvest indicated.
• Taste characteristics. An important point in recognizing a surrogate is its flavor, which does not show a bright fruit or berry kernel. By and large, these are discreet drinks with a very poor flavor. The only thing they can attract to themselves is the strongest aroma and extremely rich aftertaste, which has a slightly sugary base.

Did you know? The technology for the production of dry wine allows the manufacturer to create a drink wherever, whenever, and with any flavor.

Types of good and popular wines

If you really want to protect yourself from getting to know the powder product, we recommend that in the process of choosing drinks, pay attention both to the place of purchase and directly to trade mark... Using the services specialized stores and giving preference to proven products, you do not even have to find out the answer to the question of how to correctly check whether the wine is in your hands or not. Examples great drinks that are guaranteed to delight you with their vibrant grape nature are:

• Inkerman. A dark ruby ​​drink with a rich pomegranate nature and a seductive aroma, in which hints of milk cream and vanilla are heard. The taste is based on undertones of chocolate and black berries.

• Chateau Bordeaux AOC. Alcoholic drink of an elegant raspberry color with the most delicate tannic notes in the aftertaste. The aroma is built on the racy aspects of the red fruit.

• ... Alcoholic beverage of attractive ruby ​​color with a pleasant tart fruity aftertaste. The bouquet is formed of notes of wild strawberry and rose.

• Toastmaster. Straw blend with bright notes of banana, melon, grapefruit and pear in the aroma. Taste ambitions are based on light sourness and pleasant fruity sweetness.

History reference

The technology of wine production without natural wine materials has been known throughout the world since the 1970s. Moreover, she for a long time languished in the bins of manufacturers until the need arose to find cheap ways to recreate fragrant alcoholic beverages... In 1998, GOST R51157-98 was adopted, which officially allowed manufacturers to add dyes, flavors, sweeteners, alcohol, concentrates, sugar and other elements to their drinks.

This government decision led to the formation of a large number of surrogate, which subsequently managed to oust many popular organic products... All thanks to the affordable cost and acceptable taste characteristics... Nobody thought about quality at that moment. The aggravation of the situation continued until October 1, 2003, when the law on the production of non-traditional alcoholic products was canceled. In 2003, for 5 liters of wine consumed by a consumer in Russia, there was only 1.5 liters of natural wine material.

Strive to purchase only products in the store that are made on a natural basis. So you can protect your own body from negative impact from the side of a large number of chemical impurities. Be attentive to what you drink, because many types of alcohol do not always please the consumer with excellent quality and safety. Head to the nearest liquor store for a bottle of elegant wine. Make only a deliberate choice in favor of best products with outstanding organoleptic properties.

Age limit: 18+

There is a widespread belief among the people that natural wine is now not so easy to find: only powder and chemical are left. At least, a significant part of the population believes that cheap wine is not wine at all. But this is not true. Let's figure out why.

Nearly 27 billion liters of natural grape wine- according to . Accordingly, on average, one inhabitant of the Earth accounts for more than 3.8 liters of wine per year - including babies, the elderly, the sick, teetotalers, as well as Muslims and those who do not take wine in their mouths because it is not available, or prohibited, or simply too expensive (after all, a huge number of people are below the poverty line). This fact alone seems to hint that there is enough wine in the world even without powders.

Let's move on to the next point - legislation. The legislation of not a single civilized country in the world (including Russia; about France, Italy and other old-world wine-producing countries I’m not saying) will never allow a drink that is not really wine to be called “wine”. For "non-standard" substances (for example, using "bread" alcohol) we have a special term - wine drink. And in the case of the powder ... however, let's move on.

The problem is that powdered wine ... is impossible to make. On the one hand, everything seems to be simple: flavoring powder, alcohol, water, sugar. But alas - no, not everything is so simple. No, you can, of course, be sophisticated and do something like that, reminiscent of wine, but the fact is that there is no need for this: the simplest natural wine is very cheap!

Many foreign farms still have junk wine that they will not use for reasons of prestige (or they are not given the right to do so by regional / appellation norms). And now they are always happy to drain this shamurday to someone. This can be either quite a decent wine or amazing rubbish (but grape) - for example, obtained from vines with a frantic yield, about 150-200 centners per hectare (such a wine will be "watery", tasteless, bad).

And so our producers (both dubious wine factories and some wineries) buy such wine "in bulk", in giant cisterns, "in bulk" (= in bulk). The cost of purchasing one liter of such wine can be as much as 20 cents (a very mediocre product) or more (for 50 cents / liter it is already quite a decent wine). Well, why bother with powders here, reinventing the wheel?

Where do the raw materials (= wine materials) come from, all sorts of Petersburg, Chelyabinsk, Yekaterinburg wine-champagne factories? Yes, from there, from abroad, a bulk is brought here at bargain prices, sweetened, carbonated, poured - and voila: Russian champagne is ready! It turns out a very ironic name. Sometimes these drinks are flavored (and here you really get some kind of chemistry), but sometimes not.

Ultra-budget drinks - for example, the legendary Three Axes port - can of course be more "powdered". In the sense that not a full-fledged wine is used as a raw material, but any sedimentary heap, which costs three kopecks. And here, in the end, it really turns out to be a very dubious product, not wine.

If you are interested in this topic, then I advise you to read Denis Rudenko's magazine: he has written about this many times. Here, for example, is one of his articles-records, devoted, among other things, to this legendary powder wine.