Mega Purple is a

grape juice Grape juice is obtained from crushing and blending grapes into a liquid. In the wine industry, grape juice that contains 7–23 percent of pulp, skins, stems and seeds is often referred to as '' must''. The sugars in grape juice allow it to be ...

concentrate A concentrate is a form of substance that has had the majority of its base component (in the case of a liquid: the solvent) removed. Typically, this will be the removal of water from a solution or suspension, such as the removal of water from ...

by Vie-Del Company of

Fresno Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. It is used as a food additive. The process used for producing the additive is proprietary. Based on the descriptions of effects to wines by winemakers it is likely produced by a series of processes such as

vacuum distillation Vacuum distillation is distillation performed under reduced pressure, which allows the purification of compounds not readily distilled at ambient pressures or simply to save time or energy. This technique separates compounds based on differences i ...

, fractional distillation, and

solvent extraction A solvent (s) (from the Latin '' solvō'', "loosen, untie, solve") is a substance that dissolves a solute, resulting in a solution. A solvent is usually a liquid but can also be a solid, a gas, or a supercritical fluid. Water is a solvent for ...

. The product is one of a series of concentrates marketed as kosher additives for food with names such as Mega "Cherry Shade" Grape Juice Concentrate, Mega Purple Grape Juice Concentrate, Mega Red Grape Juice Concentrate

In winemaking

There has been some discussion in the industry regarding the use of additives such as Mega Purple to bolster or enhance sensory attributes such as color, taste and mouth feel. It is reported that as much as 20% of the total production of such additives is related to wines. According to journal reports, Mega Purple is used by almost every low- to moderate-value wine producer (below $20US per 750 ml bottle) to help standardize the bottled product ensuring a more uniform product.Berger, Dan, ''Wines & Vines'' (March 2006)
Mega Purple
/ref> It is produced by concentrating the ''teinturier'' grape

Rubired Olmo grapes are wine and table grape varieties produced by University of California, Davis viticulturist Dr. Harold Olmo. Over the course of his nearly 50-year career, Dr. Olmo bred a wide variety of both grapes by means of both crossing varietie ...

, a cross between

Alicante Ganzin Alicante Ganzin is a red French wine grape variety. Unlike most ''Vitis vinifera'' wine grapes, Alicante Ganzin is a teinturier with dark flesh that produces red juice. Most varieties used to produce red wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Syra ...

and Tinta Cão, has 68% sugar and sells for approximately $135 a gallon. Mega Purple has raised some controversy within the wine consuming community as its use is considered to be akin to adulterating a wine. Others, such as John Williams, winemaker for Frog's Leap Winery, has stated that the need for its use is evidence of poor

viticulture Viticulture (from the Latin word for '' vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of '' Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ...

and/or

winemaking Winemaking or vinification is the production of wine, starting with the selection of the fruit, its fermentation into alcohol, and the bottling of the finished liquid. The history of wine-making stretches over millennia. The science of wine and ...

.Williams, John, sarep.ucdavis.ed
Science of Sustainable Viticulture

References

{{Reflist Food additives Winemaking Grape juice