After developing a vibrant blue-coloured wine in 2015, Spanish company Gik Blue Wine have been hit with a fine and forced to make alterations to their product by the local Agriculture Ministry after an anonymous complaint was filed against them.
The vibrant drop attracted plenty of attention.
The distinct colour comes as the result of adding an indigo dye and a naturally occurring pigment in grapes named anthocyanin, resulting in a taste that isn't actually "too bad" according to : "The colour is confusing, it tastes like white wine but a little sweeter."
Under European Union oenological rules, colours that have not been authorised are considered to be illegal, with blue, perhaps unsurprisingly, failing to make the list.
Gik have since been forced to remove "blue wine" from their labelling and make slight alterations to the composition.
Started with the intention of challenging the wine industry, the company's goal was to offer something different to what was currently on offer, according to Taig MacCarthy who spoke with the .
"Our goal was clearly to offer something to people looking for a wine that was a bit more fun and crazy," MacCarthy said.
"The trouble is that we are trying to revolutionise an industry that has worked for centuries without making any change — and they control the rules of the game.”
Of course, Spain isn't the only place where blue wine has been attracting attention.
Meanwhile, the Gik Blue Wine company has since started a petition on to have the regulations altered.
