Q: Why do I get headaches after I drink wine? My friend said it
was from sulfites. Is that true?
A: This is a subject that is
more controversial that you might suspect. While we can't say with definitive
knowledge that sulfites cause headaches in wine drinkers, we can say that those
wine drinkers who are susceptible to headaches are far less-likely to get
headaches when they consume sulfite-free
wine.
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Q: Seriously, do sulfites
give you headaches, or what?
A: Generally speaking, a handful of dried
apricots have more sulfite content that a bottle of wine.
White wine
contains more sulfites on average than red wine. Funnily enough, most
people complain to me that drinking red wine gives them headaches and white
doesn't.
I would argue that drinking non-organic
wine, regardless of its sulfite content or lack-thereof, is more than likely the
problem. Generally the wine people point to as causing headaches is cheap,
mass-made wines.
Sugars, glycerines, flavorings and more can be added to wine with
impunity and with no warning to the buyer. These wines also generally add large
quantities of sulfites to stabilize the wine due to the mass production. So, in
theory, wine that is made without a lot of care, without
considerations of additives is arguably the cause of the headaches, more than
any sulfite content.
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Q: Now I
really have a headache! So explain to me what sulfites are then, exactly, and
why they are so controversial.
A: Simply stated, adding
the free-radical SO2 to your wine means you are adding a foreign ingredient to
the wine. You are taking what was generally a product made from the earth, and
adding a man-made item to it. This automatically makes the wine non-organic. It
may be made from grapes produced organically, but adding man-made sulfites makes
it very hard to define as organic.
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Q: What about Biodynamics?
I keep seeing that on the labels of these bottles of organic wine.
A: Biodynamics takes organic wine a step
further, and beyond, the realm of conventional wine-making. Based on some
philosophical tenants and ideological practices established by Austrian Rudolph
Steiner, Biodynamics is a comprehensive approach to wine-making. Jaimie Goode of Wine Anorak has a great short-course on the
subject I urge you to review.