Water for Wine Making
Is purified water—distilled or reverse osmosis—good for winemaking?
This is a question we have to answer quite often. Distilled or reverse osmosis (RO) water is pure and free of chlorine, minerals and other foreign substances. Water from most other sources is not pure and will affect the taste of your finished wine.
There is a common misconception that all bottled water is purified. This is not true. Most bottled waters on the market are not distilled or RO but are either spring water or filtered tap water. Purified water goes through a special process that rids it of virtually all impurities. Purified water is ideal for mixing all beverages since it is pure and does not impart any other flavours.
There is another reason why purified water is ideal for winemaking. Purified water is nature's water. When nature makes water it starts out pure. As this water falls to the earth through our polluted atmosphere it picks up impurities and toxins. It then absorbs minerals and other man-made pollutants as it seeps through the soil. The roots of plants (e.g. grape vines) take up this water from the soil. The minerals from the water are absorbed by the plant which provide nutrients required for new growth. This same water, minus the minerals used by the plant, is the main ingredient found in the juice of a grape.
Commercial wine is made by crushing grapes and fermenting the juice. There is no water added in this process. Craft winemakers who make their wine form kits are usually working with a blend of grape juice and concentrate and will have to add water. Grape concentrate is made by gently boiling grape juice under pressure which reduces its water content by evaporation. Water removed by evaporation is distilled or purified water. Minerals, flavour compounds and other solids from the grapes remain in the concentrated juice. When you prepare your wine kit you have to replace the water that was evaporated during manufacturing. By using purified water you will be putting back what was removed by evaporation and nothing else, thereby giving you the closest thing to fresh juice.