Now that sulfites are included on every wine
label, everyone seems a little concerned. Wall Street Journal wine
columnist Will Lyons looks at the evidence and finds that they're not
all that bad
MY NOSE STARTED to quiver
as my eyes, already bloodshot, screwed up in reflex in preparation for
an almighty, juddering sneeze. I was sitting in a café on the outskirts
of a major wine growing region in France. It was evening and after a
long day's wine tasting we had finally ordered our food and were ready
to unwind and enjoy the first glass of wine that we didn't have to spit
out. Only I was sneezing, uncontrollably.
"I
do apologize," I said to the rest of the table, a mixed company of
négociants and wine importers. "It must be all that sulfur in the young
wine we tasted."
"Nonsense!" came the
riposte. "There was certainly sulfur in the wines you tasted but it's
highly unlikely that it's causing your sneezing fit," said one importer,
with the weary expression of someone who has been down this road
before.
He was right. Later, I decided to
research likely causes for my sneezing and found that it could have been
the alcohol, or perhaps the histamine found in red wine or, since it
was early spring, possibly pollen…. There were all manner of things it
could have been, but it was very unlikely to be sulfur.
So
why had I mentioned it? Why is sulfur seen as a boogeyman? As British
wine journalist
Jamie Goode
writes in his book "Wine Science": "Sulfur dioxide in wine is one
of the most frequently discussed and yet simultaneously one of the most
frequently misunderstood issues in winemaking."
I
blame the back labels. "Contains sulfites" just doesn't sound right,
especially considering many other things have far higher levels than
wine—dried apricots, for instance, or commercial orange squash.
Briefly,
sulfites are a group of sulfur compounds several of which are commonly
used as preservatives, including sulfur dioxide and sodium
metabisulfite. Sulfites help to protect wine from oxidization or from
turning into vinegar, and most wines contain them as a permitted
additive, usually added at bottling or at the end of fermentation.
In
a tiny percentage of people, sulfites—even in minute quantities—can
trigger an allergy-like reaction, and the risk of this is considerably
higher for asthmatics. But adverse effects from wine, such as a runny
nose and a sore head, can be due to a multitude of factors. It's rather
like port, which is always blamed for the headache the morning
after—unfairly, as it is usually the three or four different drinks one
had before the port was passed round at the end of the night.
Anyone
concerned about sulfites should look for "no added sulfites" on the
wine label. One might also turn to natural wines, a movement begun in
the 1980s by Beaujolais négociant
Jules Chauvet,
which attempts to use little or no sulfites.
Proponents
of natural wine argue that sulfites freeze the wine in time, preventing
further evolution, while critics argue that the wines tend to taste
faulty and that age-ability is an issue. I have no strong feelings on
either side. It is quality and drinkability I am interested in.
If
you are worried about sulfites in wine and think you may be sensitive
to them, I would suggest that you go and buy some dried apricots. If
they make you sneeze, you may have a problem with sulfites. If not, I
would have that second glass of wine.
Source: http://online.wsj.com/asia
No comments:
Post a Comment