More on those pesky preservatives!

We love getting emails from punters, even ones that point out we've been inconsistent and wrong. Punter Linda got in touch to put us straight about our previous article on sulphur and to make a good suggestion.

Hi Guys

I am a bit confused about preservatives in wine and reading your article on sulphur didn't help much. 

You said that without preservatives a wine will go off quickly but then in the organic wine article you say that the wines can be kept and are ok if they are open for 3 - 4 days. So which is it?

What about organic wines are they better for you? You also don't explain clearly how to avoid preservatives and I think people are more health conscious nowadays and want to know what to do.

Linda

Well Linda, first off you are right. When we wrote about sulphur in February we hadn't tried any organic wines, such as those from Temple Bruer, and we got it wrong. Organic wines can last like other wines provided they are made properly.

While we're on organic wines, they often contain less preservatives but sulphur is a natural part of the winemaking process so all wine will contain at least some of it. In fact sulphur is an allowable additive even for organically certified wines. Organic producers do make preservative free wine and by this they mean they do not add preservatives. Having said that, well made organic wines are an option for people with preservative intolerance and those wishing to cut down.

Before we deal with the last bit of Linda's email it's worth repeating why sulphur is used in wine. Frankly it helps to make wine as good as we've come to expect. Specifically it's added to control wild yeasts and bacteria, preserve colour and aroma, and reduce browning. So seeing terms like "preservative 220" or "preservative 224" shouldn't be a cause for concern. 

While it's understandable that people worry about chemical additives the reality is that, as we've said, sulphur occurs naturally in wine making. What's more it's added in such small quantities that they are measured in parts per million. In Australia up to 250 ppm of sulphur can be added to dry wines and up to 300 ppm for sweet wines. This latter figure is equivalent to one-and-a-half tablespoons per 1,300 bottles of wine. By comparison, sulphur dioxide is often used more liberally (up to 3,000 ppm) in preserved fruit such as dried apricots

But some people are sensitive to even these small amounts. US research has measured such sensitivity at around 1% of that country's population. If you do suffer a reaction it will resemble asthma. Stuffy nose, congestion, difficulty breathing and so on. However as with other allergies the intensity of any reaction will differ.

Most of us don't have any reaction while others, particularly asthma sufferers, can exhibit more noticeable symptoms. Obviously if you do get symptoms see your doctor! However if you don't experience symptoms after eating dried apricots then any reaction to drinking wine is probably due to something else. Interestingly the reported cases of adverse reactions have increased since the inclusion of preservative codes on packaging was made compulsory in 1988. A case of mind over matter perhaps?

But I get a headache from red wine we hear you cry. Assuming this doesn't occur after you drink 5 bottles of the stuff during a big night out and you're not in the 1% of the population who is sensitive to sulphur what could be the cause?

Oak derived tannins in red wine have come under suspicion because they can cause the release of serotonin (a neurotransmitter), which at high levels may lead to migraine type headaches. The problem with this argument is that tea and chocolate can also have high levels of tannins and few people complain of a 'tea or chocolate' headache.

But what about another old favourite suspect - histamines? People sensitive to histamines lack a certain enzyme and the theory is that this combined with the alcohol in the wine triggers the reaction and headache. This may or may not be true. What is true is that some people simply can't handle their drink, whether or not it has preservatives.

In any case if you are going to have a reaction it will happen very soon after you start drinking, usually within 15 minutes or so. Waking up the next day with a splitting headache and a mouth that feels like the bottom of a budgie cage is not a preservative intolerance

Getting to the last part of Linda's email. Other than the organic wine option, what do you do to avoid or reduce your exposure to preservatives in wine?

Reduce the amount of wine you drink .. (yes thank you for that refreshing and unique point of view, let's move on shall we? - Ed)

Stay clear of cheap wines.

While the cask is a handy packaging idea it often contains wine that has higher levels of preservatives. Few winemakers use more than 120 ppm of sulphur dioxide in white wines, however cask wines, particularly the sweeter styles, can often hit the 300 ppm limit. Bottled red wines are usually given 50–80 ppm but this increases to 80–110 ppm for cask wine.

As you can see from these figures cheaper is not better and that red may be better than white. Either way it's better to stick to quality and reap the benefits of superior winemaking techniques.

Buy older wines.

Unlike many of us wines get better with age. Sulphur is at its peak in younger wines but after a few years in the bottle most of it will have gone.  Some Tassie producers like Observatory Hill, who have a policy of holding on to their wines for a year or so before selling them, make this approach very easy.

Buy cool climate wines

Tasmanian wine usually has a higher level of acid than their warmer climate counterparts. The more acid the less sulphur is needed.

Buy wines with higher alcohol

We haven't put this in to bait the finger waggers, as fun as this would be, but because alcohol is a natural preservative so these types of wine don't need as much sulphur.

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