Sulphite is a term used for chemical compound sulphur, which will often appear in both standard and natural wines. There are roughly three different chemical compounds that are notable within wines; these include sulphur dioxide, sodium metabisulphite and potassium metabisulphite. These are the chemicals within wine that can cause allergic reactions and that dreaded hangover the next morning.
Low sulphite wines entered the industry with low quality and a lack of taste, but from new methods of creating the wines and new additives included in the beverage, the taste has never been better. Low sulphite wines were first bought into the industry to be enjoyed by members of the public who may be suffering with an intolerance to sulphite.
Not only do wines with a much lower count of sulphite satisfy the needs of consumers with an intolerance to sulphite, it also satisfies the majority of consumers who do not have an intolerance. According to customers who have drank low sulphite wines, they have noticed a significant decrease in hangovers the next morning, compared to consumers who drink standard wines at night and then wake up with a headache.
Professionals have told the industry that consumers who drink wines with a high amount of sulphur can lead to hangovers, not just because of the alcohol found within the drinks, but it could be a case of the consumer having an intolerance to sulphite. If this is the case, they have recommended that consumers should try drinking low sulphite or sulphite free wines and see if the symptoms occur again. The public have replied to the professionals with positive feedback linking to their advice.
A testimonial from a person with an intolerance to sulphites reads, “I have a sulphite intolerance and tried these wines and they are great. No after-affects at all, amazing!” This is just one of many testimonials that can be found relating to low sulphite wines and how they differ to normal wines that can be bought within the industry.
Bio-dynamic wines, also known as organic wines, are recognised as a wine that has been produced in small quantities with no additional chemicals added to their mixture, ensuring that they are completely pure and free from anything harmful. Many customers within the industry think that biodynamic are sulphite-free.
This however is not true, bio-dynamic is made very carefully in small batches by dedicated companies who farm the grapes by hand with much care, and then produce the wines in an organic factory that ensures their purity with no additional extras. But many biodynamic wines do include sulphur.
Bio-dynamic wines are a hard beverage to come across, especially if you want a “real” biodynamic. The term “real” is used due to a high increase of factories that create biodynamic in the cheapest method possible and try and pass them off as wines that have been created by a small dedicated company.
The larger scaled companies do this by buying organic grapes that have been picked by hand and then process the wines through a large factory that will then add unwanted chemicals throughout the development process. Although they call it “Organic Wine”, it is just a cheap method of creating wines and selling them on. The company know that the “Organic” tag would definitely help sell the wine within the market.
If bio-dynamic is your demand, please ensure that you purchase a professionally made wine that has been processed by a small dedicated factory, within an organic factory using professional organic equipment and resources. You never know what might be in those other “organic wines.”
Contact a reliable wine merchant today to discover your new favourite bottle.