Wines Made Without Added Sulfur Dioxide - Part 1
9/24/10 -
(Photo: Pierre Frick)
Sulfur Dioxide has been used in wine storage for centuries and in winemaking since the early 1900's. It is now considered a normal and required additive to control oxidation and bacterial contamination. In a modern winery sulfur-dioxide is added as the grapes are crushed, after the alcoholic or malolactic fermentation, at various points during the aging of a red wine and again at bottling. The winemakers represented in this tasting all work organically in the vineyard and harvest by hand bringing undamaged fruit to the press, thus lessening the need for SO2 to control bacteria. Their vineyards contain healthy and varied populations of wild yeasts, so that sulfiting and innoculation with selected yeasts is not required. Working without sulfur-dioxide requires great work in the vineyard and meticulous care in the cellar. The problems of bacterial contamination and oxidation must be controlled by a good level of acidity in the wine, temperature control and cleanliness, but the results can be fabulous - wines of great complexity and purity, with aromas and flavors that transcend the "typical" flavors we have come to expect from conventional wines. Please try a selection of these unusual and delicious wines, but we warn you that drinking wines without sulfites can be habit-forming....
According to the Handbook of Enology, the average SO2 content of dry French white wine is 105 mg/L, that means roughly 79 milligrams of sulfur-dioxide per bottle. Sounds a little scary, especialy since the World Health Organization recommends no more than about 50 mg per day for an average weight individual! (French regulations currently allow up to 210 mg/L for white wines and 160 mg/L for red wines; American regulations allow up to 350 mg per liter in wine). Although the posibility of actual health problems more serious than a headache seems remote (except to those who are allergic to SO2) and involves primarily the depletion of thiamine, the effects of sulfur dioxide use on the character of wine are extensive and have unfortunately become part of what is considered normal in modern wine. Sulfiting the juice and innoculating with selected yeasts produces aromas and fruit characters that have become, in some regions, standardized and banal. And of course the flavors and aromas of sulfur-dioxide are detectable at very low concentrations. But what about the flaws sometimes found in sulfite-free wines? It's true that some winemakers have been perhaps too eager to make a wine without any additives when they have not had the material or experience necessary. (See "Pierre Overnoy; Interview with Francois Morel..." in our Articles section) Decades of organic farming may also be a prerequisite as a healthy wild-yeast population seems to keep the population of brettanomyces under control. It's a very complex process and extremely difficult in vintages with rot or low acidities. The growers represented in this tasting are doing fabulous work and producing complex, stimulating wines that deserve your attention. We hope you can attend this very interesting tasting and perhaps try a mixed case of these fascinating wines.
