Sulfite-free wine?
 

I was under the impression that wine could not be fermented without
creating some sulphur dioxide. There are plently of wines without added
SO2, but none without it. http://www.happs.com.au/pages/pfRed.html claims
that an analysis showed no trace of SO2 in their wine. Is this possible? A
person on another list is very sensitive to SO2 and says she can drink
their wine.

Fred.

Sulfite-free wine?
 

"Fred" wrote ...............
>
> I was under the impression that wine could not be fermented
> without creating some sulphur dioxide. There are plently of wines
> without added SO2, but none without it.
> http://www.happs.com.au/pages/pfRed.html claims that an analysis
> showed no trace of SO2 in their wine. Is this possible? A person
> on another list is very sensitive to SO2 and says she can drink
> their wine.

Sulphur dioxide (sulfur dioxide in the US) (SO2) is a widely used additive
in winemaking, mainly to protect wine from oxidation and to inhibit
bacterial growth, and is added at several stages in the process of
harvesting grapes and vinification.

Sulphites occur naturally in all living things, and are present in small
quantities in unsulphured wines.

It is accepted that wines with an SO2 content of less than 20 parts per
million are entitled to be called "sulphite free", however, as you correctly
point out, SO2 occurs naturally as a biproduct of the fermentation process.

Zero SO2 in wine is a fallacy (IMNSHO of course).

--

st.helier

Sulfite-free wine?
 

On Aug 3, 8:05 pm, "st.helier" > wrote:
> "Fred" wrote ...............
>
>
>
> > I was under the impression that wine could not be fermented
> > without creating some sulphur dioxide. There are plently of wines
> > without added SO2, but none without it.
> >http://www.happs.com.au/pages/pfRed.htmlclaims that an analysis
> > showed no trace of SO2 in their wine. Is this possible? A person
> > on another list is very sensitive to SO2 and says she can drink
> > their wine.
>
> Sulphur dioxide (sulfur dioxide in the US) (SO2) is a widely used additive
> in winemaking, mainly to protect wine from oxidation and to inhibit
> bacterial growth, and is added at several stages in the process of
> harvesting grapes and vinification.
>
> Sulphites occur naturally in all living things, and are present in small
> quantities in unsulphured wines.
>
> It is accepted that wines with an SO2 content of less than 20 parts per
> million are entitled to be called "sulphite free", however, as you correctly
> point out, SO2 occurs naturally as a biproduct of the fermentation process.
>
> Zero SO2 in wine is a fallacy (IMNSHO of course).
>
> --
>
> st.helier

The fermentation process produces about 7 ppm naturally. Conscientious
winemakers try to maintain a level of about 33-35 ppm to keep the wine
stable and oxidation free (this was told to me by Olivier Humbrecht).
The EU limit for SO2 is 400 ppm.

Sulfite-free wine?
 

On Sun, 03 Aug 2008 22:55:30 GMT, Fred > wrote:

>I was under the impression that wine could not be fermented without
>creating some sulphur dioxide. There are plently of wines without added
>SO2, but none without it. http://www.happs.com.au/pages/pfRed.html claims
>that an analysis showed no trace of SO2 in their wine. Is this possible? A
>person on another list is very sensitive to SO2 and says she can drink
>their wine.

I do not see a claim that an analysis showed it was free of S02. Not
on that page or the PDF they link to at least. They claim it is
"preservative free", which they interpret as no added SO2.

--
Steve Slatcher
http://pobox.com/~steve.slatcher

Sulfite-free wine?
 

Steve Slatcher > wrote in
:

> On Sun, 03 Aug 2008 22:55:30 GMT, Fred > wrote:
>
>>I was under the impression that wine could not be fermented without
>>creating some sulphur dioxide. There are plently of wines without
>>added SO2, but none without it.
>>http://www.happs.com.au/pages/pfRed.html claims that an analysis
>>showed no trace of SO2 in their wine. Is this possible? A person on
>>another list is very sensitive to SO2 and says she can drink their
>>wine.
>
> I do not see a claim that an analysis showed it was free of S02. Not
> on that page or the PDF they link to at least. They claim it is
> "preservative free", which they interpret as no added SO2.
>


It is not on that site or the PDF. One of their customers said they said
their analysis showed no SO2. Thanks for other replies. I have passed them
on to the person on another list that has the problem of SO2 sensitivity.

Fred.

Sulfite-free wine?
 

Mike Tommasi wrote:

> Mark Slater wrote:
>> The fermentation process produces about 7 ppm
>> naturally. Conscientious winemakers try to
>> maintain a level of about 33-35 ppm to keep the
>> wine stable and oxidation free (this was told
>> to me by Olivier Humbrecht). The EU limit for
>> SO2 is 400 ppm.
>
> It all depends on the type of wine.
>
> The EU limit is 400 ppm only for sweet wines.
> The limit is much lower, thankfully, for dry
> reds (160ppm) or dry whites(200ppm). US limit is
> 350ppm for all wines.
>
> Conscientious winemakers will indeed use far
> less than these limits, Humbrecht's comment on
> 35ppm are good for whites, but he should have
> mentioned that reds require even less because
> they contain antioxydants that come from
> prolonged skin contact. Red wines made from
> healthy grapes can get away with around
> 15-20ppm. Wines treated this way are stable and
> age well.

The amount of sulphites used is based on the pH of
the wine. For example, a wine with a pH of 3.5
will require about 50 ppm; a wine with a pH of
3.6 will require 60 ppm; and a wine with a pH of
3.7 will require 70 ppm. This is a rule of thumb
but works out to be fairly accurate. One must
also take into account the difference between
"free" and "total" SO2.

For very complete information on sulphites and
wine making see:

http://www.brsquared.org/wine/Articles/SO2/SO2.htm

Sulfite-free wine?
 

Here's an interesting article in today's New York Times about sulfur
and wine: http://thepour.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/05/sulfur/