Innovative blue wine attacked by traditionalists

A GROUP of young people from the Basque region with different academic skills but no knowledge of wine making have created the world’s first blue wine, Gik Live.

They spent two years developing the concept with a Basque university and food researchers so that they could take red and white wine from various Spanish producers, blend it and then add anthocyanin from the skin of red grapes together with an organic pigment indigotine to create the colour.

The specific colour was chosen as blue represents movement, innovation and infinity. It is also a colour associated with fluidity and change. The colour may also have helped to gain the company plenty of publicity at launch.

With bottles costing around €10 each and a taste that is quite palatable, all seemed to be going well for the company until traditionalists pointed out that Spain’s, and the European Union’s, wine legislation did not allow for a blue wine, so the authorities have decreed that it can no longer be sold as wine.

Understandably, the company which has complied with all regulations connected with quality control for food and drinks is not impressed and sees this as sour grapes from a reactionary industry and has set up a petition against this at www.change.org/p/vino-azul.

In the meantime it continues to sell Gik Live from its website but has to accept that it is currently recognised only in the category of ‘other alcoholic beverages’ although the creators  still believe that a drink that contains 100 per cent wine is actually wine.