This is a revision and expansion of an article originally published on The Satellite Show.
You're not allergic to sulfites.
Well, probably not.
For some reason the sulfite question has popped up in the wine world a lot recently. I think it's a combination of an increased interest in organic products in general coupled with an insurgent popularity of so-called "natural wine" amongst the vino cognoscenti. Despite copious writings (including by me) on the virtually non-existent health risks of sulfites, a large chunk of the population either: still doesn't know about it; doesn't believe it; or chooses to remain willfully ignorant out of some misguided organic fervor.
Here are the facts:
In my past experiences as a waiter and wine retailer and in my current career as a wholesaler I've encountered exactly one person with a legitimate sulfite allergy. White wines and lighter red wines gave him hives. He still drank more tannic red wines. I have, however, encountered numerous people who claimed to have a sulfite allergy but failed the basic Lemon test, because:
There are innumerable things in wine that cause headache including, of course, alcohol. Red wine contains numerous histamines and there is a general consensus that there is something in many red wines that causes headache in certain individuals, but there is no clear idea what that is yet or even if it is native to red wine or to human DNA. Oak barrels also impart histamines and other compounds that add to the cocktail of chemicals in wine that produces adverse reactions.
Cheap, factory-farmed wine has a lot more stuff in it than small production "farm" wine or "natural" wine. It could have citric acid, oak chips, concentrated grape juice and chemical preservatives above and beyond sulfur. There are nights where I consume an entire bottle (or more) of responsibly-produced wine and feel fine in the morning and other instances where I'll have a glass or two of factory-farmed wine and get a splitting headache.
Unfortunately (but I'm sure to many HuffPost detractors, unsurprisingly), there were exaggerated assertions from anti-sulfur activists published on the Huffington Post in the past, and that doesn't help. If most wines had naturally occurring sulfites of 0-5 ppm, there would be a lot more organic wine out there and more responsible grape growers could trade on the organic name. But the no sulfite-added wines that I've worked with generally have around 15-30 ppm and it is inconsistent year to year since small growers don't have the resources to control and combat free floating sulfur that could blow in from neighboring vineyards.
I believe there is a definitive advantage, in terms of feeling crappy post-drinking, to sipping sustainably farmed, small-production wine that is as natural as it needs to be. But that advantage has nothing to do with the presence or absence of sulfites. Good attentive wine makers use only as much sulfur as necessary to achieve consistency and prevent spoilage, that's it. And again, except for those with an allergy, sulfites are completely safe by every scientific measure I've read.
As a commenter on a past post of mine astutely pointed out, with all this pointed discussion about a simple, natural and safe preservative like sulfur it's funny that we seem to forget that, of all the chemicals in wine to be wary of, the most dangerous by far is that potent poison, alcohol.
(Please note, I'm not a scientist but merely a curious individual. I did, however, consult a scientist: Dr. Tom Mansell, PhD candidate in chemistry at Cornell University and publisher of the wine and science journal Ithacork. I also consulted the excellent article "Sulfites in Wine" by UC Davis Professor Andrew Waterhouse.)
Follow David J. Duman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/djduman
If you read the article by Andrew Waterhouse I linked to, he is in the process of collecting testimonials on wine consumption and headaches with the hope of eventually launching a study to investigate potential causes. Unfortunately, so far there has not been any funding. It's interesting that the relatively well-funded anti-sulfite Organic Wine groups haven't put up the paltry $30K that Professor Waterhouse says would be all that was needed to fund a graduate research project on the topic.
I do not want to dismiss the legitimacy of your migraines. People close to me suffer from them. But there is simply no scientific evidence to directly tie sulfites to migraines. That's not a judgment, it's a fact. My girlfriend suffers from migraines that some correlations would suggest is caused by MSG, however there's just as much correlation to innumerable other causes.
When trying to figure out something as complex and seemingly random as migraines it's easy to look toward something like "sulfites" or "MSG" or "chocolate" but the fact is there is simply no evidence to support a causal relationship.
http://casa-giardino.blogspot.com/2010/10/we-may-not-have-vineyard-but-we-surely.html
So I can "safely" drink ten liters per day! YAY!
VERY WELL SAID. This absurd misconception and fear over natural sulfur dioxide is why the organic wine industry is so stunted (0.1% of all US wine sales in 2010, compared to organic food and beverages sales which avergae more than 3.5% of all US food sales.) As an organic wine dealer, I applaud your article! Thank you,
Paolo Mario Bonetti
President
Organic Vintners, Inc.
Boulder, Colorado