Zelas wines are offering a free open-door tasting of low-sulphur wines from France and Spain on Saturday 19 July 2008 at Wine of Course in London N6.
What do we mean by natural wine? A natural wine is a wine made without adjustments of acidity and micro-oxygenation in small quantities from had-picked organically grown. If sulphur dioxide is added, it will be only in very small quantities. Most natural wines are made without the addition of sulphur dioxide at any point. Natural wines are more suitable for people who suffer from allergic and intolerant reactions to wine – asthma, migraine, respiratory or skin disorders. etc.
A red natural wine contains no more than 10 mg/l total sulphur and 25 mg/l total sulphur, if white. Low sulphite wine, low sulfite, low sulphur dioxide.
There is an evident trend towards organic wines throughout Europe, especially with increasing EU legislation, and in response to consumer demand. My approach has always been to be a little wary of buying wines just because they are “organic” – I still search out good wines, and if they happen to be “organic” then that is a bonus.
Interestingly sulphur dioxide is generally regarded as “natural” products, and even organic production allows its use as a preservative and disinfectant. Because of its affinity for oxygen it is good at preventing oxidation, and it kills off wild yeasts and ensures that fermentation stops when the winemaker determines. Virtually all winemakers will use sulphur dioxide, but increasingly winemakers are trying to ensure that all such interventions are kept to a minimum, especially as some consumers can be quite sensitive to traces of SO2 in wine. Whilst Suphur dioxide is probably one cause of headaches after drinking wine, I suspect that tannins and other constituents (especially in red wine) are also guilty – so I suspect that just because a wine is low-sulphur you should not assume that you can drink it with impunity. Reactions to wine can be very individual – I know of people who react badly to Pinot Noir or Gewurztraminer, but can happily imbibe a heavy Chateauneuf-du-Pape or Rioja!
It should prove an interesting tasting and it would be great if it demonstrates that good. big, substantial wines can be made with low sulhur dioxide.
For more info see www.zelas.co.uk
Does anyone know of any Chilean or Argentine wineries that produce low-sulpher wines?
You might be interested in knowing that white wines are generally higher in sulfites (more added sulfites) than red wines.
Tannin also absorbs oxygen. That and other compounds that absorb oxygen are more plentiful in reds, so there is less need for added sulfites. It’s also the reason that inexpensive red wines tend to have a longer shelf life than inexpensive whites, more red wines improve with age, and an open bottle of red will last longer than an open bottle of white.
The red wine headache is now thought to be unrelated to sulfites. Current thinking is that it is probably most often caused by histamines, which are more prevalent in reds than in whites. Key words there are probably and most often. The exact cause of the red wine headache is still uncertain. It is possible that the same type headache has different causes in different people.
In response to the Red Wine Headache syndrome, just try having a glass of water with or in between each glass of Red, this usually resolves the problem, just watch a Frenchman at dinner.
Low Sulphite Wines are becoming increasingly popular and I never realised so many other people out there also had a intolerance to sulphites. A friend of mine recommended this great website to me recently which stocks a wide variety of low sulphite wines and a lot of useful information about sulphites. Check out Low Sulphite Wines.