“Sulfites” in Your Wine, the True Story

Again, yesterday, we had a lovely lady decry drinking wine because it gives her terrible headaches. She said that she had been told by other wineries that her headaches were caused by the sulfites in her wine.

This sad story has been told to me countless times. In some cases, even rashes had been experienced. My heart goes out to these lovely people, whose only fault was purchasing the wrong wines.

Because this topic is so important and affects so many people, I am devoting this Blog to the subject of ‘Sulfites’. I ask that you share it with anyone that needs our help.

First, a little history about sulfites. They are naturally occurring compounds that occur in the skins of every grape on Earth and many other fruits and vegetables. Mother Nature put them there to protect the integrity of the fruit; not from us, but rather from bacteria and fungus. The inside of grapes is a great resource of energy, sugars, and carbohydrates. In the core of the grape are seeds. This is what Mother Nature is protecting with her sulfites. Without sulfites, the bacteria and fungus would destroy the seeds and the future generations of the grape. Today, many of our modern antibiotic drugs are ‘sulfur’ based. Now that we understand the history of sulfites, let’s embark on the second part of our journey; the people who are sensitive to sulfites.

In the U.S.A., about 5% of our population are asthmatics. About 1% of this group are sensitive to sulfites, no one else is sensitive. So, if you are not asthmatic, we need to look elsewhere for the cause of your headaches. The answer is right before our eyes. Take a look at the bottle of wine that you were drinking. If it has plastic, aluminum foil or a screw top securing its top, that is a ‘filtered’ wine. Now, turn the label to the backside and read the words of hype. Usually, you will see expressions like ‘hints of, notes of, aromas of, flavors of, etc. Those are more than just words; those are chemicals that the factory wineries have added back to your wine to offset the fact that your wine was filtered. Their filtration process removes all the natural particulates of fruit that would, normally, give the wine its taste, flavor, or bouquet.

Compounds like sulfites are naturally occurring compounds and are easily metabolized by our bodies; man made chemicals can carry side effects like headaches and rashes.

Now that you have a better insight into the role of sulfites in our wines, you can choose a much better alternative in wine; ‘Unfiltered’ wines are your better choice. Unfiltered wines are made from whole fresh fruits and vegetables, capture a single harvest from a single moment and place in time, age forever and harbor no manmade chemicals. Bunker Hill Vineyard and Winery produces only ‘Unfiltered’ wines.

Salute and Happy Days…. The Green Winer!