Newsletters: November - December 2006

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To Your Health!
Organic wines are sulfite-free, and they're excellent!

By Sandy Beck

Several years ago, my husband and I had dinner at a local restaurant, and I drank a glass of red wine. The next morning, I woke up with what felt like the world's worst hangover. My head pounded; I was dizzy and sick to my stomach. The next time I drank a glass of wine, I had the same reaction. This had never happened to me before.

After doing some research, I discovered the culprit was a preservative commonly added to wine-sulfites.

According to the Food and Drug Administration, one out of every hundred people is sulfite-sensitive, and 5 percent of those who have asthma are also at risk of suffering a serious, even fatal, reaction to ingesting sulfites. A person can develop sulfite sensitivity at any point in life.

Common symptoms of an allergic reaction include headaches, hives, swelling of the tongue and throat, shortness of breath, flushing and loss of consciousness. And, as in my case, the world's worst hangover.

Since 1988, federal regulations require that labels on all imported and domestic wines exceeding 10 parts-per-million (ppm) of sulfites, clearly state "contains sulfites." The label is not required on wines that contain less than 10 ppm of sulfites. No wine may exceed 350 ppm.

Sulfites are a natural byproduct of the fermentation process, and wines can contain from 6 to 40 ppm, but most commercial vineyards also add sulphur dioxide as a preservative and anti-bacterial agent.

"Wine grapes are one of the most heavily sprayed crops. Over 100 different synthetic ingredients can be added to wine, but the only one that needs to appear on the label is sulfites, the worst offender," says Bruce Heiman, New Leaf's organic wine distributor.

What is "organic wine?"

Just like organic food, organic wine is produced without chemical herbicides, insecticides, fungicides or synthetic fertilizers or preservatives, including sulfites.

"Read the labels carefully. Some vineyards claim 'Made with organic grapes,' but still add sulfites. These are not organic wines," Heiman says.

New Leaf, I was thrilled to discover, carries an excellent selection of organic, sulfite-free wines. One of my favorites is made by La Rocca Vineyards. In a phone conversation, I asked Phillip LaRocca, who has been producing organic wines for 20 years, how he is able to produce a wine with a long shelf life without adding preservatives-something most wine producers claim is impossible.

"Sulfites kill the bad bacteria," he said. "We make wine that is void of bad bacteria because everything is extremely clean. Our motto is 'When in doubt clean it again.' We sterilize anything that comes in contact with wine."

How does he deal with insects and rodents?

"We have only one pest, a leaf hopper," he explained. "We plant cover crops between the rows-clover and barley-which attract beneficial insects. We also introduced 200,000 lacewings."

And LaRocca Vineyards built 14 nest boxes for barn owls which have returned the favor by solving the gopher problem.

In doing research for this article, I sampled New Leaf's organic wines. What an assignment! Here are my three favorites-all reasonably priced:

• La Rocca Vineyard Chardonnay-exquisite, crisp and slightly fruity
• Our Daily Red, by the Nevada County Wine Guild-soft, smooth and full-bodied
• Orleans Hill Cote Zero Merlot-rich and dry with a hint of cherry

Other good choices are Organic Wine Works, Cooper Mountain and Badger Mountain.

If you enjoy sweet wine, HoneyRun Honeywines are made with honey, fruit juice and yeast. They are also kosher. Move over Manischewitz!

And while I think the La Rocca chardonnay is incredible paired with Sweet Grass Dairy's goat's milk Gouda cheese, forget the old "white with fish and red with lasagna" adage. Drink whatever you like. Be adventurous.

Whether or not you are sensitive to sulfites, you may want to consider organic wine for the same reason that you eat organic foods-to limit the amount of chemicals you put in your body.