"Natural Flavors"?

[TerryR]

My wife and I noticed that Franzia boxed white grenache has changed. It used to be just white grenache @ 10% alcohol. Now it is 9% alcohol and the box reads "with natural flavors". We feel ripped off...should we feel this way?. I was looking for an e-mail address for Franzia to let them know how disappointed we are,but couldn't find one.

[Jerry D Mead]

re whether you should feel ripped off or not?

Does the wine taste as good as before? Do you enjoy it as much? If the answer is yes, you probably haven't been ripped off. If the answer is no, then maybe you have.

If you buy wine for its alcoholic content, then that missing one percent might make you feel ripped of, but the truth is there are many wines available with 12-14% alcohol, if it's alcohol you're after.

This kind of inexpensive box/jug wine is often tinkered with in the laboratory, via the addition of acidity, sweetness in the form of concentrated grape juice, etc. I have to admit that the addition of "natural flavors" is a new one.

There's a lot of that going in on in what they call "special natural wines" like "Peach Chardonnay" and "Blackberry Merlot," but this is the first I've heard of for varietally labeled table wine.

Only your palate can tell you if it's a rip-off in the end.

JDM