Reforming the traditions with BLUE WINE

Savoury, sweetened, and syrupy, this is how oenophiles describe the taste of world’s first blue wine. Yes, you read it right. It’s neither red nor white, of course not rose but is uniquely blue.

Gïk Blue, A Spanish Company has bought this new blend for the folks using different varieties of red and white grapes. It has got its blue colour from two organic pigments namely anthocyanin, acquired from the red grape skin, and indigotine, a reddish blue food dye. With an alcohol content percentage of 11.5, blue wine is already being sold in over 25 countries.

Spain, other than bullfights, Flamenco music, dance and La Tomatina festival, is also known for its great traditional wines, with a number adding up to around 46. “In Spain, wine is very linked to culture and has not changed for centuries,” said the co-creator Aritz López.

And this is exactly how the new invention tale started off. Since they were not traditional winemakers and had absolutely no knowledge of this fusion of nature and expertise, inducted a team of chemical engineers from the University of the Basque Country. Within a good time span of two years blue wine, which was first of its kind was created.

Wendy Leon, Hong Kong-raised chef and caterer justifies that, "In Chinese, we have a saying: You eat first with your eyes, then your nose, then your mouth.” A twist in colour of the wine initially created hype but the Gïk website describes the colour blue as representing “movement, innovation, fluidity, change and infinity”.

López further explained the insight for this invention came from a book titled "The Blue Ocean Strategy," by a business theorist W. Chan Kim’s which elucidate the existence of red oceans (as the target market) - the ones full of sharks (profit makers or the giants) that have torn the small fish populations (small entrepreneurs) to the point that the water turned red. And therefore the author concluded that there are blue oceans, wherein the fish populations swim freely without competition.

The Blue wine has got all sort of mixed reactions. Enrique Isasi of Sushi Artist Madrid, one of Spain’s first restaurants to carry the product said that initially, people did not believe that they were selling a blue wine, but after giving it a try loved it and kept coming back for it. On the other hand, some do not even consider it to be a wine, with a consideration that white, red and rosy colours are the characteristics of a wine.

This new invention in the domain of wines has turned out to be another opportunity for those who are bored with red, white and rose flavours. The Blue wine has definitely drawn millennials attention because of its photogenic appearance and a different approach towards the traditional drinks. Though its market has expanded across the continent, only the time can tell if it is going to give a tough competitor to the existing wine industry.