What does it mean when a wine bottle declares "contains sulfites?"?!
Answers: What kind of sulfites are these? The phrase always seems like some kind of warning. I'm thinking of drinking a bottle tonight- should I be concerned?
They are a few diferent sulfur compounds that were added to the grapes or wine to preserve it, they basicly burned sulfur and pased the fumes over the grapes. If you are allergic to sulfites or have asthma it might be a concern. But otherwise it is no bif deal.
Sulfites are naturally occurring byproduct of the fermentation process, but sometimes additional sulfites are added to help with the preservation of the wine. They place a warning on the labels because sulfates are a common allergen and can induce asthma attacks in some. People with aspirin allergies need to avoid sulfites because they can induce similar effects... such as swelling throats and hives.
Edit:
Here I thought it was annoying to cut and past the answer from wiki... Now I come to find it is even more annoying when someone cut and pastes your own answer... TO THE SAME QUESTION!
Sulfites are naturally occurring byproduct of the fermentation process, but sometimes additional sulfites are added to help with the preservation of the wine. They place a warning on the labels because sulfates are a common allergen and can induce asthma attacks in some. People with aspirin allergies need to avoid sulfites because they can induce similar effects... such as swelling throats and hives.
It is a common allergen - if you have never been allergic before you probably won't be now. You are right it is listed as a warning just like foods that say "made in a factory that also makes nuts and whey products". There are sulfite free wines if you are allergic but no need to worry until you know for sure. Cheers!