Update: Production halted of that audacious little Spanish blue

UPDATE (1/20/17): Inspectors from Spain and the European Union have decreed that no more Gik, a blue wine introduced to the market last year, can be produced until a decision can be made on how, if at all, it fits into prescribed marketing  categories. There is no blue wine category among the 17 wine products listed under E.U. law (Annex VII part II of Regulation 1308/2013). The blue color comes from adding two ingredients to the mix of Spanish red and white grapes --   anthocyanin, a pigment made from the skin of red grapes, and indigotine, a plant-based food dye. All of it is 100% organic and natural ingredients.

(Originally published 7/21/16) 

OK, let’s look at the basics of the grape wine color spectrum: Red and white. Oh, and pink. And, sometimes yellow, or even a little bit light green. And, blue.

Blue? Yep. A bright cobalt blue wine recently introduced in Spain and rolling out across Europe under the less-than-appetizing brand name Gik will begin appearing in the U.S. in October, priced at $16 a bottle.

Curiously, the young winemakers behind Gik (run “gik” through a Spanish-to-English translator and it still comes out “gik”) are not claiming any great product, just a different one.

Their stated manifesto: “Gik represents the innovative side of life, because that’s how we are. We believe in the creative rebellion, we build new things, break with the past and create our future. We are Gïk and we will change the world.”

The wine, bottled at 11.5% alcohol by volume, is a blend of red and white wines -- yes, they’ve managed to mix red and white to get blue, with the help of some food dye -- from vineyards in Spain and France.

Says company co-founder Artiz Lopez, “It tastes sweet and fresh and has no heritage. Surprisingly, when we did a blind tasting, just one of 15 people said it was a wine. Among the reactions we found some people even saying it was a soft drink!”

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• Go here to visit the Capital Region Brew Trail
• Go here to visit Dowd's New York Wines Notebook
• Go here to visit Notes On Napkins 

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