Bucko, you have GOT to see this....

[Botafogo]

This probably should be under "Wine and Health" but this is SO stupid and SO inacurate and SO outrageous that I have to rant:

http://www.truthinwine.com/documents/rankings.html


will take you to the website of a magazine that purports to tell you what wines are "healthy" based on laboratory testing of chemical components. They seem to know just enough about wine to be dangerous:

"There are two reasons for high sugar content in a wine: either the fermentation process is prematurely halted before all of the sugar is converted or sweet unfermented grape juice is added to the fermented wine."

UH, what about super-ripe, dried and / or botrytus affected grapes you boneheads????

"None of the 30 wines tested by TIW fall within federal guidelines of 1.5% variance from the stated label amounts of alcohol...in the case of Sutter Home, alcohol is overstated by a third"?!?!?

If the aboave statement was true, some of the smartest, largest corporate wineries in the country will owe millions of dollars in fines. I am not a chemist but I think that the difference between Alcohol by Volume (the American standard) and Alcohol by weight (typical in a laboratory analysis) is about that much (I know this from looking at books about beer, which often list both).

Acidity in wine is dismissed as A) unhealthy and B) artificial and, in yet another "secret" ingredient, Kendall Jackson Chard seems to have 4 times the ZINC than all the other wines tested....

Bucko, you should get one of the mags and tear these guys a new sphincter....

Roberto

[Thomas]

Roberto, I checked out the site--this is one really screwed up group. What bothers me is that it smells of a sinister, rather than good, agenda on their part. The so-called information they give out seems quite negative about wine, and wildly inaccurate.

I sent them a comment, but do not expect them to answer. I specifically asked that they cite the available evidence that sulfites cause headaches, which they state with commitment but offer no proof, plus I explained tartaric acid to them, whihc they have got wrong.

I also asked that they tell me a little about who they are, and why (or even where) they exist, which is not clear.

Every wine lover should get online and write to this group.

[winoweenie]

Have no ideer whats' the makeup of the noble juice but have seen so many stupid articles on it that I refuse to let anything sway me from my charted course, drink till I drop. I say " Piffle, Pshaw, Poo-Poo, and Pergatory " to all of these naysayers.WW [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/frown.gif[/img]

[wondersofwine]

Foodie,
That last part about who they are and why the website exists is part of what we in the library profession try to find out in evaluating the credibility of a website. You can get online and say almost anything but that doesn't make it factual.

[Botafogo]

Here is their "definition" of sulfites:

"heavy, corrosive, oily dibasic strong acid that is colorless when pure and is a vigorous oxidizing and dehydrating agent. Low levels occur naturally in wine, high levels are from spraying grapes with herbicides and pesticides and may indicate the addition of sulfites as a preservative".

Can you say "hidden agenda" boys and girls?

Roberto

[JagFarlane]

In actuality, volume and weight are vastly different...in fact neither is part of the calculation for the other. Case in point one cm cubed of star matter, affectionatly called "star stuff" can weight billions of kilograms...and the same can apply to wines...one wine may weigh more than another...its just a matter of what its composed of. Anyways, in how it relates, wines only give you the percentage in volume, much the same as pretty much any hard liquor I've run across...and its a varience, each bottle will be slightly different, due to the differences in batchs.
But in reality...its just a sales ploy...case in point...go to the link of retail sales and read this line "One complimentary shelf talker will be included for each of our top ranked wines.".
I rest my case...as far as the way its all done...facts can be used to be twisted, I am sure there are some people allergic to sulfites, and use thier case for that. And even with 7k employees, testing approximatly 650k items a year...using a checklist of 500 items, is ludicris...personally I'll be calling them tommorrow to more or less ask a few specific questions as to thier methods and so forth...just because I can hehe [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/smile.gif[/img] . More or less though, I will bring up the fact that they offer thier own wines...when stating points against others...and if they run, I shall refer the Better Buisness Bureau to this company for slander.

[Bucko]

I try to remain very removed, objective and neutral when these articles come out. This one is laughable however.

I can't tell you how many medline searches that I have done trying to find a link betweek sulfites and headaches -- there are none that I can find, period.

Acidity has no effects on health that I know of, including ulcers. All alcohol can increase reflux.

I read a legitimate article recently that took stated alcohol levels to task -- many are way off.

[winoweenie]

Sent them a suggestion. I told them they should re-name their publication " Half-Truths in Wine " WW ( Gave them my E-address. Let's see their re-action )

[This message has been edited by winoweenie (edited 07-30-2003).]

[Thomas]

The ATF, or whatever they are called today, allows for fluctuation in alcohol by volume labeling of plus or minus 1.5% for the simple reason that measuring alcohol with an ebulliometer (sp) is expensive and not perfect. Therefore, no label will be accurate with regard to alcohol by volume--pure and simple.

Sometimes the facts are the facts.

[This message has been edited by foodie (edited 07-30-2003).]