Sulfites and Wine - Part 1

What are they and why are they in my wine?

Since early 2006 when we really started studying wine, I have heard many people tell me that they can't drink wine because they are allergic to sulfites.  Their primary complaint is that they get a headache from even a small amount of wine (almost always red).  Being one of those people, I was a bit puzzled when I didn't need to take an antihistamine to drink the red wine made we make here at Time to Make Wine. Here are some things I've learned:

• Freshly pressed grape juice is naturally prone to spoiling. To prevent this, European winemakers began using sulfites in wine making over 200 years ago. Most viticulture experts today agree that some sulfites must be added during the wine making process to make consistently stable wine. Added sulfites inhibit spoilage, stop oxidation and safeguard wine's natural flavor. In reality, sulfite free wine would likely be undesirable for consumption.
• Sulfites are naturally-occuring compounds that are both an antibacterial and an antioxidant. They are found on grapes, onions, garlic, and on many other growing plants. No wine can ever be "sulfite free", since some sulfites come in with the grapes and some are created in the process of fermentation.
• Sulfites are found in lots of foods, generally in higher concentrations than wine.  Some examples are dried fruits, jams, baked goods, canned vegetables, frozen OJ, bacon, dried noodles and pickled foods
• The easy way to see if sulfites are a problem are for you is to eat a food high in natural sulfites - say, dried apricots. On average, 2 oz of dried apricots have about 5 times the amount of sulfites as a glass of wine does. If you eat those apricots and have a reaction, it's time to talk with your doctor, but only about 1% of the population is actually allergic to sulfites.  They are usually individuals with asthma and their symptoms generally include rashes, abdominal pain or extreme breathing problems - not headaches.
• The law requires all wines carry a sulfite warning if they contain more than 10ppm of total sulfites.  Wines made in other countries must follow the same labeling rules but only on wines sold here.  Wines sold in other countries still contain sulfites, they are just not required to put it on the label.
• Wines generally contain 25 - 150ppm of sulfites.
• The maximum level allowed for wine is 350ppm.
• White wines contain more sulfites than red.
• Generally, the less expensive the wine, the more sulfites it contains.

Sulfites and Wine -- Part 2 
 
So, if sulfites are not the problem - what is it?  Part 1, I covered what sulfites are and why are they in wine.  In Part 2, I would like to explain why our wines, made from kits, are different from commercial wines.
 
We know that the headaches and stuffiness are likely not caused from the sulfites in wine, but what could it be?  The two most common culprits are:

• Tyramines - which are chemical substances found in cultured food like cheese and yogurt, fermented foods like wine and soy sauce, and chocolate, vanilla, beans and nuts.  If nothing on the list but wine gives you headaches, they likely are not it.
• Histamines - which are biogenic amines involved in local immune responses. Histamines are found in a great variety of living organisms like grapes.

Histamines look pretty good here since wine is made from grapes.  Generally, people have more trouble with red wines than white.  Knowing that red wines are generally fermented on the skins (which harbor histamines) and white wines are not, this seems to support the histamine argument too.  Now, red wines made from kits are sometimes fermented on the skins, and if they're not, the juice is certainly left with the skins long enough to get color from them.  But still, many of our customers report that they can drink our red wines without getting that red wine headache.

The answer is still histamines, but from an additional source.  Many commercial red wines go through a secondary fermentation process called malolactic fermentation.  Malolactic fermentation is actually a conversion process which does not produce more alcohol.  Rather, it converts the more tart malic acid to more soft lactic acid.  While the end result is a more desirable texture, the process also creates additional histamines.  Again, it is primarily red wines that go through this process.  So what about kit wines?  None of our wines go through malolactic fermentation, the kits are not designed for that.  No malolactic fermentation, no additional histamines for many people equals no red wine headache.

As for the too much wine headache, that's called a hangover, and we can't do anything about that!