03/28/05 Monday question - Sulfites and wine

Welcome to Vine to Wine. I'm your host Linda Moran and on today's program we will be answering your email questions. Every so often I get a lot of questions about sulfites in wine. Today we will attempt to sort out some of the confusion concerning the sulfites in your wine. The presence of sulfites in wine confuses most consumers. Legislation, requiring that wineries indicate on their wine labels that sulfites are present in wine, seems to be the source of most of that confusion. Sulfites are not some weird artificial chemical that is a by-product of modern technology. Sulfites have been around in wine for thousands of years. Sulfites are a natural preservative that are found in the vineyards. They act as an antioxidant. Sulfites are also produced during the wine fermentation process. Unfortunately, not enough of this natural antioxidant is produced to keep the wine fresh tasting and stable for very long. So additional sulfites are added by virtually all wineries. Although, you may see some labels that read, no added sulfites. Meaning that there are no sulfites added by the winery and only those that occur during that natural process are in the wine. However, there are individuals who have severe allergic reactions to sulfites, not only in wine but in dried fruits, nuts and vegetables. All of which, may use sulfite as a preservative. You most likely know if you have sulfite allergies by the time you are drinking age. Unless you are allergic to sulfites they are probably not what gave you a headache that time you drank too much wine. Remember to send your wine questions to Linda at Vine to wine dot net and thanks for joining me on today's Vine to Wine.