By Lindsay Gabbard

Let me start with a question: have you ever wondered why some wines leave you with a headache or feeling off the next day, while others, especially the ones in Italy (and at Rimessa Roscioli), don't? It’s one of the most common questions I hear during tastings, and while most people jump to blaming sulfites, the real answer is far more nuanced.

It’s a bit like comparing fresh-squeezed orange juice to a bottle of Tropicana. Both can legally be called “orange juice,” but we all know they’re worlds apart. The same goes for wine. Artisan wine—handcrafted in small batches by passionate families—is an entirely different experience from the commercial wine you’ll find on most supermarket shelves.

Here’s why. Numbers tell it all.
It's not actually Italy vs. the USA, but artisan vs. industry, big vs. small. Let’s look at the numbers:

• Italy: The size of CA, more or less, and home to nearly 50,000 -  250,000 wineries depending on how you define them - the majority of which are family-run, artisan operations with fewer than 5 hectares of vines.

• United States: A different story entirely. 82% of all US wine is controlled by just seven companies. EJ Gallo alone accounts for nearly a quarter of it! California, the heart of US wine production, has just 4,000 wineries. Many of these are sprawling operations (hundreds of acres), more reminiscent of a factory than a vineyard.

While both have artisans and huge commercial wineries, it's pretty obvious by the numbers that the majority of wine in Italy comes from small, family run wineries, while the majority of the wine comes from huge wineries in the USA.
Numbers tell it all.

What's in the bottle? Ingredients and Processing.
The real difference between artisan and commercial wine lies in how it’s made and what’s allowed inside the bottle. Many commercial wines and juices claim to contain only “grapes” or “oranges” as their primary ingredient, and technically, that’s true. But the devil is in the details—or in this case, the process.

Take Tropicana orange juice, for example. While it’s labeled as 100% orange juice, the oranges are pasteurized to extend shelf life, stored in oxygen-depleted tanks for months, and stripped of their natural flavors. To compensate, manufacturers add back “flavor packs” engineered in a lab to ensure every carton tastes the same, but they technically aren't lying saying '100% oranges'.

Commercial wine undergoes a similar transformation. Grapes are often machine-harvested, which means undesired stems, leaves, and even under ripe or overripe fruit can end up in the mix, requiring adjustments to be made to make it taste more desirable later. Fermentation is sped up with lab-designed yeasts, and additives are used to adjust color, flavor, and texture. What’s left is a product that tastes consistent but lacks the soul of a wine made with care and intention.

Ingredients:
Artisan wine typically has just one ingredient: grapes.  Any adjustments, like the addition of sulfites to preserve freshness, are kept to an absolute minimum.  And it should not be forgotten that sulfites are a natural by-product of fermentation - every wine will contain a small amount of sulfites (and over 10ppm, an amount that exists naturally in nearly every wine, requires 'Contains Sulfites' to be mentioned on the label.  Many wines can legally have up to 300 ppm added, but they don't have to mention that.)

Commercial wine, on the other hand, can legally include up to 80 additives in the US (54 in the EU). These may include:

• Colorants like Mega Purple, to make the wine appear darker and more appealing.
• Acidifiers to adjust flavor imbalances.
• Tannins in powder form for texture.
• Flavoring agents to mimic the taste of oak barrels, ripe fruit, etc.
• Sweeteners like concentrated grape juice or even artificial sugar.

See the full list here.

These additives are designed to create a consistent, predictable product that appeals to the masses—but at the cost of authenticity and your health, and are hidden from you as the consumer to give you the perception that wine is always a naturalproduct.

Farming Practices:
Artisan winemakers often practice sustainable, organic, or biodynamic farming, avoiding synthetic chemicals like pesticides and herbicides.
Commercial vineyards are more likely to rely on chemical interventions, including
glyphosate (the active ingredient in Roundup), which has been found in nearly all tested US wines due to irrigation contamination, and has been linked to countless health problems.

Processing Methods:
Artisan winemakers rely on traditional methods that respect the natural processes of fermentation and aging. This means:

• Hand-harvesting grapes at their ideal ripeness.
• Using wild or native yeast for fermentation rather than lab-engineered strains.
• Wines are often unfiltered and not clarified.
• Allowing wine to ferment and age in small batches with minimal intervention.

Commercial wine, in contrast, is all about speed and efficiency:

• Grapes are often machine-harvested, which can include under ripe or damaged fruit.
• Fermentation is accelerated with lab-designed selected yeasts tailored for specific flavors.
• Filtration is almost always done to make the wines 'look' better.
  Aging is sometimes skipped altogether, with artificial flavorings added to mimic the effects of barrel aging.

Some will define 'better' by the one their palate prefers, while others will define better by the way in which the wine was made.  But you just need to be aware that tricks are done by commercial winemakers to make the wines go down nicely, if you will, recalling the phrase "That which is nectar in the beginning, turns poison in the end.  True happiness is often bitter in the beginning but nectar in the end."

Global warming and sunscreen on grapes
Yep, Banana Boat Chardonnay, if you will. Let’s take a detour to California in 2021. That was the year a New York Times article revealed that some California grape crops were found to have traces of sunscreen on them.  Some winemakers in an effort to curtail the effects of global warming and high heat, resorted to spraying their grapes with sunscreen! They even used recycled toilet water for irrigation. Don't believe me? You can read more here...

In Italy, nor from small winemakers, you would never in a million years see that happen. Many producers embrace natural solutions, like using canopy management to shield grapes from the sun or allowing biodiversity in the vineyard to create a balanced ecosystem. It’s a philosophy that prioritizes quality and sustainability over shortcuts.

The Glyphosate Problem
Let’s not forget glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup. Nearly all samples of US wine tested in recent years have shown traces of this herbicide, largely due to irrigation contamination.
Italy, thankfully, has taken a hard stand against glyphosate. In 2016, the Italian government banned its use as a pre-harvest treatment, and restrictions have been placed on its application in public areas. Italian legislators have even fought against relicensing glyphosate in the EU, valuing the health of their land—and their people—over corporate convenience.

In Conclusion
At its core, the difference between artisan and commercial wine lies in the why behind the bottle:
Artisan wine asks, “What story can this wine tell?” It’s about crafting an authentic product that connects people to a time, place, and tradition.  (And the motive behind the videos in the Roscioli Wine Club).
Commercial wine asks, “How can we sell more bottles?” It’s about creating a marketable, consistent product that appeals to the broadest audience possible.

We all know what the right choice is - for our bodies, for the environment, and for the future. Figure out your why for why you drink wine. The choice is yours 🍃