Ask a SOMM

By Jody Robinson

A good sommelier is a helper: a guide to finding the best wine for your food and experience. For this month’s installment, we again approached South County-based sommelier Micah Sampson to address a few frequently asked questions.

Q What the heck is a sulfite and why is it in my wine?

A Sulfites occur as part of the fermentation process, a natural byproduct of yeast metabolism during the conversion of sugar to alcohol. They are completely harmless to over 99% of all people. In fact, the human body produces sulfites, a whole bunch of it, there’s already about 10 times more sulfites in you on a daily basis than a bottle of wine.

The thought of sulfites being a synthetic chemical added to wine is just a misguided fear. Winemakers might add additional small quantities near the end of fermentation to halt the process, but that’s the natural way to do it, like turning on the lights at the end of a dance party.

It’s also added during bottling as an antioxidant to help prevent spoilage. But, they only use what is needed to complete those stages, usually using amounts far within acceptable boundaries.

Sulfites do two things really well: they bond with oxygen molecules, keeping the wine from oxidizing into vinegar, and they push bacteria out of the wine to keep it from spoiling. Sulfites are like bouncers at the door of a bar, keeping the bad people out without ruining the party.

Q So, why the warning labels?

A Good question. In 1987, the government stepped in and required warnings on anything containing sulfites. Here’s why… salad bars.

You’ve seen this at home when you cut up an apple, 20 minutes later it’s a lovely shade of brown and your kids won’t touch it. Well, at restaurants people weren’t eating the aging fruits and veggies either and that’s bad for business. The solution in the 1970’s and 80’s was to spray the produce with sulfites. Voila… no more brown produce!

However, restaurants were using up to 2,000 ppm (parts per million), which caused adverse reactions in several hundred people and cases were being reported to the FDA. So they banned the use on raw fruits and veggies and imposed warning labels on anything with sulfites over 10 ppm.

Q What about those scary reactions to sulfites?

A Sulfites can cause an allergic reaction, but in less than 1% of the population and rarely headaches. The main group of people who could have a reaction are asthmatics, and the reactions are usually breathing problems, throat swelling and hives.

The government did make a good move by trying to warn those who could have a sensitivity. But the damage was done, sulfites now looked scary. The vast majority of wines produced in the world usually fall into the 10-100 ppm range, so they are all required to have the scary warning on the bottle. Add in the speed of the internet and social media, you now have the perfect storm of spreading false information like wildfire.

Q Ok, then why do I get headaches?

A When defending sulfites, people commonly ask, “then why do I get headaches from red wine?” First of all, there’s usually twice as much sulfites in white wine as there are in red. If you get headaches from reds and not whites, then it’s definitely not a sulfite reaction. Secondly, there are a whole host of other natural components in red wine which can cause a headache – tannins and histamines being the main ones. Red wine contains about 30 times more histamines than white wine and, if your body has an intolerance to histamines, the number one symptom of an intolerance is… you guessed it, headaches! However, the most common culprit is likely a combination of two things no one ever likes to admit to: dehydration and too much alcohol. So, there’s a good chance your friend who swears they’re allergic to sulfites, and announces it ever-so-confidently, is likely just suffering from downing 4 glasses of cab sauv without drinking any water. Hydrate you newb!