Would You Buy Cheaper 'Replica' Wine?

Two companies are making knockoff wines — and one of them is doing it without the use of grapes

Got Dom Perignon taste on a Carlo Rossi budget? You're not alone, and some companies are hoping to cash in by selling cheaper "replicas" of high-dollar wines.

A company aptly called Replica Wine says it has "created a proprietary, patent-pending methodology to reverse engineer today’s most popular wines," which it then sells for 25 to 50 percent cheaper. The company has its own commercial chemistry lab where it tests popular wines to identify more than 50 flavor and aroma notes — tannic, fruity, et al — then, with the help of a master sommelier and winemakers, it sets out to make its own wines that "taste virtually identical."

Specific wines the company has targeted include Meiomi pinot noir, Kendall-Jackson Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay, and multiple wines from popular label The Prisoner; by the end of this year it plans to have about 20 different wines on the market. (Wine Enthusiast scored two of its wines favorably, awarding 88 and 90 points, but does not mention how the wines measure up to the vintages they're supposed to imitate.)

Meanwhile, a San Francisco-based startup called Ava Winery is also betting on replica wines — but it's doing so without any grapes. (Perhaps calling itself a winery is a bit of a misnomer, then?) According to the Metro, the company claims it "can ‘turn water into wine in 15 minutes’, using flavour compounds and ethanol to create synthetic wine that replicates the taste of fine vintages." What the hell is wine made of if not grapes? "A delicate balance of amino acids, sugars, ethanol, and other ingredients," apparently. Ava claims it's already replicated a 1992 Dom Perignon, which it plans to sell for a quarter of the price of the real vintage.

Replica Wines says it's aim is to "offer consumers weekend-quality wine at a weekday price." Wannabe wines and their synthetic counterparts are sure to piss off established winemakers, but will they find favor with bargain-seeking drinkers? There are certainly plenty of tasty, affordable, and original wines out there without resorting to knockoffs.

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