Much ado about nothing: Sulfites

Here’s the voice-over from a trailer for a film that was never made:

“In a world where no wine drinker is safe, a mysterious chemical has found its way into your glass. You can’t see it. You can’t smell it. But sulfites lurk under every cork. Under every screwtop. In every boxed wine, waiting to strike.”

People can be a little dramatic about sulfites and wine. Government agencies warn unsuspecting drinkers with mandatory labels on every bottle. Wine seminar attendees tell me that they drink only European wines because domestic producers add too many sulfites. Readers ask me to recommend sulfite-free wines because of self-diagnosed allergic reactions to sulfites.

Sorry, Virginia, there has never been wine made that did not contain sulfites. They are a naturally occurring byproduct of the fermentation process.

Beyond the fixed sulfites from the fermentation process, winemakers have been adding sulfur dioxide to their vineyards and to fermenting grape juice for at least 2,100 years. Sulfur dioxide —- which eventually dissipates, leaving trace amounts of sulfites —- also inhibits oxidation. Oxidation makes your wine look, smell and taste funny. In addition to their American counterparts, most European winemakers still do this for the same reasons.

“But, Gil, what about those government warnings?” you might be saying to yourself. Well, our government would never dream up ridiculous and unnecessary regulations, right?

In the 1970s, a gentleman in California with sulfite allergies died after eating at a salad bar that had been sprayed with a “keep fresh” solution containing about 2,000 parts per million of sulfites. This incident prompted the Food and Drug Administration to consider sulfite regulations, including labeling. Wine has fewer than 150 ppm, and most have much less. Regardless, in 1986 anti-alcohol forces were able to get the “contains sulfites” warning on every bottle of wine made in or imported into the United States.

Did they give a hoot about folks who eat raisins, pickles, soy sauce or canned vegetables —- products that can have 200 times more sulfites than wine? In a word, no.

If that was not bad enough (and here’s the part that really fries my cheese), the FDA will allow winemakers to leave off the warning label if their wines have less than 10 ppm, which is virtually impossible. Then there is the matter of certified organic winemaking and grape growing, which prohibit the use of sulfite-producing products. So organic wines are safe, right? Well, you could use organically grown grapes, but then add sulfur dioxide in the winery and still say “made with organic grapes.”

Confused?

It’s this confusion that is the bee in my bonnet when it comes to wine. Wine does not need to be perceived as more complicated than it really is. At its core, wine is a simple food that mankind has produced and enjoyed for millennia.

Truthfully, as a wine lover and a cheapskate, I’m not sure I want my wine to be sulfite-free, anyway. Back in the late 1990s, when I was putting glasses of fancy wines on starched, white tablecloths for a living, we had an organic, “no sulfite added” chardonnay on the menu. It was an amazing wine to behold, when it wasn’t brown and vaguely reminiscent of sewage.

We had four cases to sell, which we did. Well, we really sold three cases because we couldn’t charge for the bad bottles. Our accounting department chalked up that fourth case to “the angelic purity of nearly sulfite-free wine.” Was that wholesomeness worth the $480 we paid for a single case? All I’ll say is that I’m glad it wasn’t my money.

An exceptional problem? It sure was. But without extremely careful winemaking, wines made without sulfur dioxide are much more unstable and susceptible to spoilage.

Have you ever had a white wine tinged with brown or a red wine from a recent vintage that had a dull, brickish color and tasted old? Congratulations! You’ve had a wine made with little or no added sulfites.

Now I know I’ve offended a few organic or biodynamic purists. Sorry. But for us non-purists who just want a nice glass of wine once in a while, we need to be aware of the benefits of sulfites —- not scared or confused by the “contains sulfites” warning. Perhaps practical winemakers should also start putting “protected by sulfites” on their bottles. I’m sure that would give our heroic government regulators reason to pause.

Gil Kulers is a certified wine educator with the Society of Wine Educators and teaches in-home wine classes. You can reach him at gil.kulers@winekulers.com.