{"id":183,"date":"2017-02-23T20:50:20","date_gmt":"2017-02-23T20:50:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/silverdollarwinery.com\/blog\/?p=183"},"modified":"2017-02-23T20:50:20","modified_gmt":"2017-02-23T20:50:20","slug":"silver-dollar-winerys-wine-education-series-part-4-sulfites-filtering-fact-from-fiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/silverdollarwinery.com\/index.php\/2017\/02\/23\/silver-dollar-winerys-wine-education-series-part-4-sulfites-filtering-fact-from-fiction\/","title":{"rendered":"Silver Dollar Winery\u2019s Wine Education Series Part 4 Sulfites: Filtering Fact from Fiction"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/strong>If you\u2019ve been shying away from wine because of the ominous \u201cContains Sulfites\u201d warning on the label, you\u2019re likely missing out on some wonderful wines<\/a> needlessly.<\/p>\n

The sulfite-labeling requirement is interesting both because it seems to indicate that wines contain loads or sulfites (they don\u2019t) and also furthers the myth that sulfites in wine, particularly red wines, are the cause of those wine-related headaches that some consumers experience.<\/p>\n

\"corkscrew<\/a><\/p>\n

A bit of back-story on sulfites may help clear the air:\u00a0 First, sulfites are commonly used in a large number of processed foods as a preservative to prevent changes in flavor and color.\u00a0 They have been used in wines since the ancient Romans began burning sulfur candles to treat wine barrels before casking.\u00a0 More recently, sulfites began to be commonly added to wine in the 1900s as a yeast-growth preventative and to enhance red wines<\/a>\u2019 natural red color.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until the late 1980s that wines which contain more than 10 parts per million (ppm) were deemed worthy of the warning label.\u00a0 The label was designed to protect a tiny population; less than 10% of people with severe asthma also have a severe sulfite sensitivity.\u00a0 So, the safety \u201cthreshold\u201d for being aware of sulfite reactions at all is that a person first has severe asthma, and secondly is part of the sub-group that also reacts to sulfites.<\/p>\n

\"Wine<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cOh,\u201d you, say, \u201cbut I always seem to get a headache when I drink red wine.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Ah, but dehydration or other chemical sensitivity, not sulfites, is the likely culprit.\u00a0 First, let\u2019s note the relatively low amount of sulfur in wines.\u00a0 Even the most \u201cguilty\u201d wine (one with lower acidity, a deep color, and a higher sugar content, such as a dry red) contains much less sulfite \u2013 about 50 ppm – than the bacon you enjoy at breakfast (over 600 ppm) or the bag of dried apricots you snack on (over 1000 ppm).\u00a0 In fact, many canned foods, such as tuna, contain around 250 ppm of sulfite, and the substance is also found in some prescription medications.\u00a0 Second, a headache is not a common sulfite reaction indicator even for those who suffer from severe asthma.\u00a0 A true sulfite allergy will show up as hives, red or blotchy skin, or muscle cramps.<\/p>\n

So, if sulfites are off the hook as the culprit, what causes the infamous red wine headache?\u00a0 As mentioned, the most likely cause of that headache is dehydration.\u00a0 The simple cure is to
\n\u201cco-sip\u201d water while you enjoy your wine.\u00a0 Since the body can only effectively use about 10 ounces of water per hour, consuming at least that much while enjoying each glass of wine should help you stay hydrated.\u00a0 Other naturally-occurring chemicals in wine \u2013 such as histamines and yeast \u2013 may also play a role.\u00a0 If you already take an anti-histamine for allergies, this should prevent a reaction to the histamines in wine.\u00a0 Taking an aspirin or two before you consume red wine, as long as this medication is safe for you \u2013 is also helpful in preventing a headache, especially if you consume water also.<\/p>\n

\"wine<\/a><\/p>\n

With the sulfite myth properly debunked, let\u2019s get on with the business of enjoying all those wonderful red wines.\u00a0 At Silver Dollar Winery<\/a>, we are proud to offer several tasty red varieties, including Peace Maker Merlot, the award-winning Peacemaker Merlot Reserve, the lovely Liberty Cabernet, and our Old Bedford Red Blend.\u00a0 We\u2019ll be happy to serve you a glass of water with your wine.\u00a0 Enjoy!<\/p>\n

– Jennifer VanDerStok<\/a> for Silver Dollar Winery<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019ve been shying away from wine because of the ominous \u201cContains Sulfites\u201d warning on the label, you\u2019re likely missing out on some wonderful wines needlessly. The sulfite-labeling requirement is interesting both because it seems to indicate that wines contain loads or sulfites (they don\u2019t) and also furthers the myth that sulfites in wine, particularly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":184,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[9,8,11,6],"class_list":["post-183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-information","tag-award-winning-wines","tag-bedford-texas-winery","tag-taste-of-texas","tag-texas-wines"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/silverdollarwinery.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/silverdollarwinery.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/silverdollarwinery.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/silverdollarwinery.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/silverdollarwinery.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/silverdollarwinery.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":188,"href":"http:\/\/silverdollarwinery.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183\/revisions\/188"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/silverdollarwinery.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/silverdollarwinery.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/silverdollarwinery.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/silverdollarwinery.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}