So, I know that there is no wine bottle in this shot, but I am taking a wee break from wine today and presenting to you instead a wine derivative called Winecrush.
Winecrush was founded by a man named Bill Broddy, who retired to the Okanagan after an entrepreneurial career in the tech industry.
One fall day, Broddy found himself cycling through wine country when he came across some bears feasting on pomace (grapes seeds, pulp, skin and stems leftover after winemaking) at a local winery. This experience caused him to ponder the potential of pomace. Broddy eventually consulted a scientist (his neighbour, Gary Strachan, a wine biochemist) who confirmed that pomace was full of anti-microbials, antioxidants, protein and other nutrients.
“At the time, Broddy was experimenting with the fermentation for sourdough bread and he wondered if the natural yeast in the pomace would enhance his sourdough bread”[1] (Take note here, all you who have been trying to master the art of bread making during the COVID-19 quarantine.) According to Broddy, sourdough bread made with the pomace was tastier and more nutritious than regular sourdough. This discovery launched him into an investigation – how else could this derivative be used.
Broddy is in the motions of patenting a process whereby the grape pomace, or marc, would be added to the lees (spent yeast cells from the fermentation process) and turned into a paste to be used as a food enhancer. This is being called the Marlee Product (Marc + Lees = Marlee).
The Marlee Product can be added to cereals (bread for example), dairy (cheese please) and even meat (think sausage, marinades, rubs and stews). It enhances the flavour of the food while adding nutritional value. Wine tannins also cause salt to taste saltier, therefore the addition of this flavour enhancer would allow for the reduction of salt and nitrates in food.
The Marlee Product additionally offers a benefit to the environment. For every two bottles of wine, there is approximately one bottle of waste, or derivative, which might end-up in the landfill, generating methane gas. Winecrush is currently working to create a process that would make it easy and cost effective for wineries to put their marc and lees in a container and send it to them, instead of the landfill, which can cost wineries upwards of $100 per tonne for disposal.
I recently made one of the recipes from Winecrush. It made delicious, moist, chocolaty cupcakes, which I iced with cream cheese frosting. I also regularly add a tablespoon of Winecrush powder to my shakes in the morning because it packs a nutritional punch, providing 8 grams of fibre, 4 grams of protein, 70% of the recommended daily intake of Vitamin C and 126% of the recommended daily intake of Vitamin E. I look forward to trying this flavour enhancer in rubs and marinades for meat this summer, and for stews and braises this fall.
Wine crush products can be purchased online at www.winecrush.ca
Cabernet Sauvignon Chocolate Cupcakes
(Adapted from Chef Nic’s Malbec Black Forest Cake)
Ingredients
190 g all-purpose flour
3 TBSP Winecrush Cabernet Sauvignon Powder
65 g Dutch process cocoa powder
8 g baking soda
10 g baking powder
3 eggs
340 g sugar
5 g vanilla extract
75 g full fat mayonaise
250 g water
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350F / 175C. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.
- In a medium bowl combine flour, Winecrush powder, cocoa, baking soda and baking powder; set aside.
- In the large bowl of an electric mixer beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla at hight speed for 3 minutes or until light in colour. Beat in the mayonnaise at low speed until blended.
- At low speed, alternately beat in flour mixture with water, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Pour into prepared muffin tins, filling each cup about two-thirds full.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool in muffin tins for 10 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Frost if desired, or serve with fresh fruit.
Footnotes
[1] Lennox, V. (March 19, 2018). Penticton Company Crushing the Artisan Food Market. Retrieved from: https://www.businessexaminer.ca/thompson-okanagan-articles/item/penticton-company-crushing-the-artisan-food-market/
References
Lennox, V. (March 19, 2018). Penticton Company Crushing the Artisan Food Market. Retrieved from: https://www.businessexaminer.ca/thompson-okanagan-articles/item/penticton-company-crushing-the-artisan-food-market/
Walker, C. (March 2020). “Winecrush Takes Edible Wine Waste and Turns it into Nutritious, Natural Food.” Interview retrieved from: https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1707265603751
Cool! Think that I will get some for my smoothies too.
I love the creativity which was the genesis for this product.
Thank you for sharing!
Yes, it’s a brilliant way to make use of what would otherwise be waste 👏🏻