If you don't care for how your OJ is processed, you should
really dislike that bottle of wine, too.
Sulfur Dioxide The most widely used wine additive. It kills microbes and prevents oxidation. Few vintners dare to bottle a wine without it, but overuse can make a vino stink like burnt matches.
Ammonium Salts A touch of diammonium phosphate revives dying yeast and keeps it from producing too much sulfur.
Water If a batch of vino ends up a bit too boozy, just add some water.
Oak adjuncts Oak barrels can make wine taste drier and lend it notes of vanilla, but they’re expensive. A cheaper alternative? Oak chips, sawdust, or “essence”—a liquefied wood product that can be added directly to an otherwise finished wine.
Tartaric Acid A naturally occurring acid found in grapes, it’s particularly critical in white wines, where tartness gives each sip a pleasing snap. Wines with insufficient acidity can get a boost from powdered tartaric acid.
Powdered Tannin Naturally present in grape skins and seeds as well as oak, tannin creates texture and astringency. Typically made from a growth on oak trees called a nutgall, powdered tannin can punch up lackluster wine.
Sugar If grapes aren’t ripe enough when picked, adding cane or beet sugar to the must can help them ferment. The catch: Adding sugar, called chaptalization, is illegal in California, Italy, and Australia. (It’s legal in New Zealand, Oregon, and parts of France, though allowed amounts vary.)
Pectic Enzymes Complex proteins that can be used to alter color, improve clarity, release aromatic compounds, and speed up aging.
Gum Arabic Made from the sap of the acacia tree, gum arabic softens tannins to reduce astringency and make the wine’s body more silky. This can make a tough and somewhat bitter red wine ready to drink immediately.
Velcorin (dimethyl dicarbonate) First introduced in the 1980s—though increasingly controversial—this microbial control agent can kill a half-dozen wine-ruining bacteria and yeasts when added in minute quantities. It’s also widely used in fruit juices.
Mega Purple Made from the concentrated syrup of Rubired grapes, Mega Purple is a thick goo that winemakers rely on to correct color issues—a few drops can turn a bottle of wine from a weak salmon blush to an appealingly intense crimson—and to make a wine look consistent from batch to batch. In a 119-liter wine barrel, just 200 milliliters is enough to do the trick. Mega Purple is made by Constellation Brands, the company behind famous labels like Robert Mondavi and Ravenswood. While on the record no one will cop to using it (or any other additive), industry insiders say that even high-end winemakers have employed it to deepen the color of their wines, a trait that connotes richness and quality, earns better ratings from critics, and commands higher bottle prices.
[1]http://www.wired.com/2014/04/how-to-make-wine-taste-good/