The wine sulfites battle rages on.
Some of you will recall that the Dude has been commenting on the topics of sulfites in wine, as well as biodynamic and organic wines.
Jason Haas over at Tablas Creek Vineyard has posted a great article on how the widely misunderstood fear of wine sulfite allergies (& "wine headaches") has combined with overly-cautious (and poorly-constructed) U.S. wine regulations to cause winemakers unnecessary grief...
What U.S. Sulfite / Organic Regulations Mean for Winemakers
In a nutshell, it seems that the U.S. regulations regarding sulfite use for wines that are to be labeled 'organic' have a big negative impact on potential quality of the wine. That's because some use of sulfites in higher quality wines is inevitable - otherwise the finished wine could be too unstable.
According to the Guidelines for Labeling: Wine with Organic References from the U.S. Dept. of Treasury - Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms:SULFITE STATEMENT
Less than 10 ppm of sulfites... hmm... good luck! I wrote about the challenges of achieving such a low level of sulfites in wine before. Those winemakers that chase after the pot-o'-gold at the end of the marketing rainbow may make "organic" wines, but that will need to be done without much thought to the ultimate quality of the wine. Those winemakers that truly care about quality - well, they end up being discouraged from even trying to make wines that would be labeled "organic" by the U.S. government.
“100% Organic” products cannot use added sulfi tes
in production. Therefore, since no add ed sulfi tes
are present in the fi nished product, the label may
not require a sulfi te statement. In these cases, a lab
analysis is necessary to verify that the wine contains
less than 10 ppm of sulfites.
What U.S. Sulfite / Organic Regulations Mean for You
And who suffers the most - wine consumers. Because the average person is likely to a) be scared off because of the required sulfite warning labels on wines, often believing (mistakenly) that there last 'wine headache' was caused by sulfties, and b) assuming (mistakenly) that wines labeled as 'organic' are healthier and of higher quality, consumers can have a poor experience tasting a nasty unstable wine that is labeled 'organic' but sucks - and possibly get turned off to wine altogether because of that experience!
Don't Get Suckered into Following the 'Organic' Marketing Bandwagon
Unfortunately, it means that we wine lovers still need to have our wits about us when shopping for wine. Stay sharp, and don't assume that a wine labeled as 'organic' is better for you or is higher quality, or contains no sulfites. Higher quality wines will contain sulfites and probably will NOT be labeled organic - but they will taste better, and in the grand scheme of things will be better for you, will provide better value for money, and will give you a better wine tasting experience!
Cheers!
Showing posts with label sulfites. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sulfites. Show all posts
In the Blogosphere: How Wine Sulfite Regulations Impact Winemakers
Update: More on Low-Sulfite Wines (Holiday Edition)
Happy Holidays to all, and greetings from sunny FL!
A (very) quick update on my last post regarding low-sulfite wines, just to prove I'm not totally biased against all organic / biodynamic wines!
I've come across a few other quality wines (featured in body + soul magazine, to which my wife subscribes) that I've recently learned are either organically or biodynamically made (or both), and that I've found to be of good quality...
Thought I'd take a brief moment during my holiday respite to share these wine finds with you. Hope that anyone looking for low-sulfite wines (that don't also totally suck!) will find this helpful:
Cheers!
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus - But there's No Sulfite-Free Wine
My sister (a chemist) recently sent me an e-mail requesting some wine advice:
"I've got a friend at work who has been looking for a sulfite-free wine. Do you know of any that are any good?"My answer: "Nope."
Not that a sulfite-free wine might not be any good, it's just that right now, sulfite-free wines are like governments that don't tax - they don't exist!
Why this is has a lot to do with chemistry (lucky for me my sis is a chemist!). Which is one of the many splendid things when it comes to learning about wine - wine exposes you not just to the sensory pleasures of drinking it, but to the art/magic of constructing a good one along with the chemistry, agriculture, geography, and geology that go into making good wine. Lucky for you Dude has already done his homework in these areas (otherwise he'd have failed all those pesky wine certification exams...), so you don't have to!...
But before we delve into the chemistry, let's examine a bit of background on the whole wine / sulfite thang:
My sister's coworker has reason to be concerned about sulfites, if that coworker is allergic to them. That's because for those people, having exposure to sulfites in drinks and food can cause a severe (and in very rare cases fatal)asthmatic reaction.
But before you start pouring all of your fine wine down the sink drain, you should know that only 0.01% - 01.0% of the U.S. population is estimated to be allergic to sulfites (probably fewer than 1 in 100 people).
If you're even an occasional wine drinker, chances are that you've heard the rumor that sulfites in wine cause headaches. Despite being popular in the rumor mill, there is no scientific evidence to suggest that 'wine headaches' are caused by sulfites. In face, if you do get headaches when drinking wine, chances are higher that the headache could be a reaction to any of several esters (flavor compounds) that occur naturally in wine.
Chances are greater still that you simply have a hangover (so drink more water next time, my party-loving friend, or - egads! - drink less wine).
Now back to the chemistry - sulfites are produced naturally during the fermentation process (so you probably are exposed to them in some beers, soy sauces, and other fermented liquids). The amount produced naturally is pretty small - anywhere from 6 to 40 ppm (parts per million). PPM is roughly equivalent to 1 milligram of something in 1 liter of water. Another way to think about it - 1 ppm is about 4 drops of ink in a 55 gallon barrel of water. Dangerous if you're talking about arsenic, but not so much when you're talking sulfites.
U.S. government regulations stipulate that wines containing 10 ppm or more of sulfites need to display a warning on the bottle, in order to alert consumers that are allergic to sulfites. Since more than 10 ppm are created during fermentation, and given that the labels don't have to specify the amount of sulfites the wine contains, that pretty much means every bottle of wine needs to carry the warning - effectively making the warning a bit useless and confusing consumers that may not be allergic to sulfites but want to buy wine that has minial sulfite content.
Sulfites are also added during the winemaking process, which can up the ppm of the sulfites in your wine (the U.S. government allows up to about 300+ ppm). Why do winemakers do this? They've been doing it for hundreds of years - the first historical record of its use in winemaking is from a royal German decree in 1487 - in order to kill bacteria, prevent browning of wine form oxidation, and to help stabilize the finished wine. The 1487 decree specifies use of about 19 ppm of sulfer, which according to wine writer Hugh Johnson (in his Story of Wine)is an "improbably low" amount.Some winemakers - mostly those making biodynamic / organic wines - deliberately avoid adding any additional sulfities (beyond those naturally produced during fermentation, of course). My personal thoughts on the current low quality of most organic & biodynamic wines aside, there are some quality producers out there who are trying to make great wines biodynamically, which are also 'lower-sulfite' wines (usually 100 ppm or less). A fine example is Frog's Leap - lower on sulfites, big on taste, and good for the environment to boot.
A final word of caution - when shopping for 'low-sulfite' wines, don't expect to find a long list of great-tasting options. So when you find a few that you do like, stick with 'em!
Those looking for a bit more on the topic of sulfites in wine should check out this handy reference from UC Davis.
Cheers!
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