Wines without SULFITES

[babyblukes]

My wife is allergic to Sulfites. Does anyone out there know of any makes of wine that doesnt have this in them?

[Thomas]

This subject has been covered and covered on the Wine & Health forum--you can go back and look up the volume of posts on it.

May I ask what the symptoms are, and what the doctor says about it?

[Kcwhippet]

If the number of people who THINK they're allergic to sulfites actually were, there would be no wine industry. There would be no dried fruits (raisins, prunes, etc.). There would be no salad bars in restaurants. I could go on and on. If your wife is not a severe asthmatic with a steroid dependency, chances are she is not allergic to sulfites. Check the posts in Wine & Health. Check with a competent doctor.

[babyblukes]

Thanks everyone for the feed back on this topic...I don't have a doctors imput on my wifes reactions...so I think we are going to try differant types to see if we can narrow it down...DON'T WORRY...I'm not giving up....

[winer]

I would recommend you read about sulfites in a book like "Wine for Dummies". The point here is that ALL wines contain SOME sulfites. It is a naturally occuring chemical. According to the book, sulfites are present in increasing quantities in the following types of wines :
- dry red
- dry white
- medium sweet and blush
- dessert

[Thomas]

If you do not have a doctor's input, where did you get the idea that your wife is allergic to sulfites, and what is the allergic reaction to which you refer?

There are an awful lot of pseudo-scientists making and disputing claims about foods and additives; one needs to look into the agendas of these alarmists. In the case of wine and sulfites, you can trace the nonsense to a few anti-alcohol groups and a whole bunch of duped writers and medicos who followed their lead, not to mention the public.

Yogurt, cheese, bread and packaged baked goods all contain sulfites, and more so than most wines. And there is no scientific evidence that sulfites cause headaches.

[This message has been edited by foodie (edited 10-27-2002).]

[Bucko]

Yeah, what Dr. Foodie said. He is pretty knowledgable in the area, so you can take that to the bank.

[drdomm]

Interesting thread...my wife is also allergic to SULFA drugs...i.e. Bactrim which is a common antibiotic for urinary tract infections. She has no problem with SulFITE-containing wines. I don't know what the exact chemical structure of the sulfites in wine is. However, I do know that there are different types of "sulfa" drugs, each with different levels of immunological effects. I'd imagine the sulfites in wine have little in common with sulfa-drugs.

Ok, here's a link I looked up... http://www.uic.edu/pharmacy/services/di/sulfa.htm

[Thomas]

Sulfa and sulfur dioxide "ain't" the same.
Incidentally, the chemical make-up of sulfites in wine (usually introduced as a gas) is:SO2 (a part sulfur to 2 parts oxygen). Add peroxide to the mix and you get sulfuric acid: H2SO4, I believe.

[This message has been edited by foodie (edited 11-02-2002).]

[winedope1]

ooooh, Fooodie- you're givin me flashbacks from chem class..but yes, it is H2SO4.

[Jackie]

Check out this web site:

theorganicwinecompany.com

You'll find good French wine with no ADDED sulfites, as well as good articles about sulfites.

P.S. I designed the web site -- Hope you like it!!!

[Thomas]

I looked it up, Jackie. Some of the information about sulfites is not exactly right. For instance, the Web site claims that sulfites cause headaches, but that remains an anecdotal claim, not a scientific one, unless these guys have further information. Also, they claim the FDA regulates sulfite use in wine--as far as I know, the FDA is not invovled with wine regulating. And too, they claim the levels of sulfite allowed in wine are upwards of 300 ppm. This is true, but with sulfites there are two ways to read it: bound sulfur dioxide and free sulfur dioxide. The free is the stuff that asthmatics react to, the bound is the one that seems to cause the anecdotal headaches. The free usually rests near 20 ppm (goes above that at times of course). The free is the one that protects best against oxidation.

SO2 gets bound by additions over the course of winemaking. It's technical, but suffice to say if you add some after fermentation, by the first racking the free will have subsided and the bound will start building; add more, the free increases (over time, some of the free becomes bound, and so on). That is how the bound reaches higher concentrations than the free.

[This message has been edited by foodie (edited 11-03-2002).]