How do I find out if my red wine contains sulfites?
Posted by admin | Filed under Beer, Wine Spirits
I get a red wine from Tesco called Madiran because they use Tannat grapes – I drink it for the health benefits and don’t touch any other type of alcohol… How do I find out if it has sulfites or any other dodgy ingredients in it? Is there an ingredient list anywhere? I tried emailing the company but no reply. The wine is called Madiran – reserve des tuguets and it is £9.99 in Tesco and it’s 13% alcohol if that helps.
June 3rd, 2008 at 9:11 am
If should say contains sulfates on the back label
June 4th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
It is the alcohol you should be searching for. do you think people drink wine because of the flavor? they just want to get a buz. They are alcoholics, dude.
June 7th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
most wines have some sulfites. It’s not exactly dodgy
June 8th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
i found a website that sells a kit for water sulfate testing. Maybe it will work for your wine.
June 10th, 2008 at 9:37 am
There are many erroneous ideas about sulfites, so to put the record straight:
* All wines contain sulfites. Yeast naturally produce sulfites during fermentation so there is only a rare wine which contains none.
* The US requires a sulfite warning label and Australia requires a label indicating preservative 220, but nearly all winemakers add sulfites, including those in France, Italy, Spain, Australia, Chile, etc etc. So, the wine you drink in foreign countries contains sulfites, but you just are not being warned about it when purchased abroad. Survey studies show that European wines contain an average of 80 mg/L sulfites just as in the US.
* There are a few (very few) winemakers who make wines without adding sulfites. In the US, organic wine must be made without added sulfites. These are unusual because the wine is very perishable and often have unusual aromas from the aldehydes that are normally bound and rended aroma-less by the sulftes. Look for these wines at natural food stores.
* Sulfites do not cause headaches!!! There is something in red wine that causes headaches, but the cause has not yet been discovered. (Many people seem to connect their headache with the sulfite warning label, but sorry there is no connection). To avoid headaches, try drinking less wine, and drink with food. If you think sulfites are causing your headache, try eating some orange-colored dried apricots, and let me know if that induces a headache. If not, sulftes are not the likely culprit. These bright colored dried fruits typically have 2000 mg/kg sulfites, so a two ounce serving (56 gm) should contain about 112 mg sulfites.