Preservative Free Wine
Preservative free wines are becoming more available in shops and supermarkets and especially over the Internet.
The reason for this is mainly due to the fact that some individuals have a tolerance to the sulphites found in wine.
It is not possible to find a retail wine that is 100% sulphite free because a small amount of sulphite is used in the fermentation process, however the minimal amounts that are required for the fermentation process are not harmful to the vast majority of people, even those with a slight intolerance to sulphite, it is actually the larger quantities that are added during the wine making process that may create problems with certain people.
There are not many retailers that list the amount of sulphite in wine because there is no legislation in place to declare this.
It is a matter of trial and error, which obviously can cause great discomfort to some people such as migraines, sickness and vomiting and even severe allergic reactions.
So why are Sulphites added to Wine? Simply because when the grapes are picked they sometimes get damaged due to careless handling or automated picking and once damaged they react with bacteria in the air.
A sulphite compound is used to arrest this reaction.
All the major brands of wine use automated picking as it is cost effective.
There is also a secondary stage during the wine making process when a sulphite compound is used.
This is at the bottling stage, the wine producers need to keep the wine from reacting with the air so the tanks of wine on the bottling line and sometimes the bottles are sealed with a layer of a sulphur compound to prevent this from happening.
The big companies also add a further amount of sulphite to the bottles to preserve the wine on route to the supermarkets.
This is because more often than not poor quality mass produced grapes are used at the beginning and these low quality grapes tend to deteriorate very quickly.
This could actually be overcome if quality grapes were used at the start as the top quality wines contain natural preservatives in the form of tannins and alcohol which revokes the need for extra sulphite.
The reason for this is mainly due to the fact that some individuals have a tolerance to the sulphites found in wine.
It is not possible to find a retail wine that is 100% sulphite free because a small amount of sulphite is used in the fermentation process, however the minimal amounts that are required for the fermentation process are not harmful to the vast majority of people, even those with a slight intolerance to sulphite, it is actually the larger quantities that are added during the wine making process that may create problems with certain people.
There are not many retailers that list the amount of sulphite in wine because there is no legislation in place to declare this.
It is a matter of trial and error, which obviously can cause great discomfort to some people such as migraines, sickness and vomiting and even severe allergic reactions.
So why are Sulphites added to Wine? Simply because when the grapes are picked they sometimes get damaged due to careless handling or automated picking and once damaged they react with bacteria in the air.
A sulphite compound is used to arrest this reaction.
All the major brands of wine use automated picking as it is cost effective.
There is also a secondary stage during the wine making process when a sulphite compound is used.
This is at the bottling stage, the wine producers need to keep the wine from reacting with the air so the tanks of wine on the bottling line and sometimes the bottles are sealed with a layer of a sulphur compound to prevent this from happening.
The big companies also add a further amount of sulphite to the bottles to preserve the wine on route to the supermarkets.
This is because more often than not poor quality mass produced grapes are used at the beginning and these low quality grapes tend to deteriorate very quickly.
This could actually be overcome if quality grapes were used at the start as the top quality wines contain natural preservatives in the form of tannins and alcohol which revokes the need for extra sulphite.
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