Does wine contain sulfates? And does it matter?

Yes, and maybe. It’s mentioned a lot in the media that some people are allergic to sulfates. Nevertheless, researchers show that about 1 in 100 people may have sensitivity, not an allergy, to sulfites. All wines contain sulfites innately. While sulfates are naturally occurring compounds found in most grapes, many wine makers add sulfates, mostly in the form of sulfur dioxide powder to the grapes just prior to the crushing or to the must after crushing, to act as a preservative, slow oxidation, and inhibit the growth and metabolism of unwanted microorganisms such as bacteria and wild yeast. This is often done when the winemaker plans to use a cultured yeast strain to conduct his or her fermentation. Sulfite warnings appear on wine sold in the United States when they contain more than 10 parts-per- million of sulfites, because there is a small percentage of the population that is extremely allergic to them.

Getting a headache after drinking wine is usually the result of three factors: sulfites, amines, or overindulgence. Many people incorrectly blame sulfites for their wine headaches. If your headaches are severe only when you drink red wine, you can rule out sulfites as the culprit. There is no such thing as sulfite-free wines. Grape skins not only host the yeast that ferments grapes into wine, they also contain vinegar bacteria that can spoil new wine. Sulfites (sulfur dioxide and its salts) help to prevent the spoilage, and it inhibits the growth of molds and bacteria, curtail oxidation (browning), and also preserve flavor.

There are less sulfates used in wine production today than at any other time in history. Better technology, equipment, and sanitation practices all contribute to less bacterial spoilage, and therefore less need for adding sulfites. Dry red has the lowest level of sulfites; sweet white the highest, reflecting the different levels of residual sugar of those types of wine. Therefore that hangover you experience is more a matter of the quality of wine, whether you drink it late at night without food, or with a hearty lunch, etc.

In my opinion, quality is the key to enjoy the best wines. My suggestion is to pay more attention when buying wines to who is the producer, the region where the wine comes from and the grapes used. That will help to individuate the quality of the wine, avoid consuming too much sugar, added cultured yeast stain or extra-added sulfates. For instance, many people perhaps do not know, but Italian laws prohibited wineries to be irrigated, and are prohibited to add sugar or other artificial chemical formulas to the wines. These and other important factors can tell people how many laws one country may have in order to produce healthy wine. Therefore it is significant that everyone selects wines meticulously in order to fully enjoy it. Surely, sulfates that are naturally contained in wines are not the cause of unpleasant side effects that one may feel when consuming wine.