Wine drinkers?!
Wine drinkers?
Has anyone tried wine without sulfites? How does it differ in taste from regular wine? What are sulfites and why are they bad?
Answers: I like organic wine and most of them are 'sufite free'.
There is a small amount of sulfites that are naturally occuring in wine but they don't add more.
Frey wine co say on their website (www.freywine.com)
What are sulfites?
Public attention recently has been directed to the use of sulfites as a food preservative. For many years it was a common practice to add sulfites to wine as a protection against oxidation and bacterial spoilage. In addition, small amounts of sulfites can be naturally present in wine and other foods, since the abundant element of sulfur takes many forms as a part of all living things. When used in winemaking, manufactured sulfites are added as sulfur salts or sulfur dioxide solutions to the juice before fermentation until bottling. Unfortunately, winemakers can be excessive in their use of sulfites, which has the effect of masking delicate flavors, assaulting the nose, and causing headaches and allergic reactions to those especially sensitive. However, modern winemaking equipment and sanitation make it possible to produce sound wines without such additives.
I tried a number of them and really like the wines made by Bonterra (www.bonterra.com) Sulfites are a naturally occurring compound that nature uses to prevent microbial growth. They are found on grapes, onions, garlic, and on many other growing plants. No wine can ever be "sulfite free", since they come in with the grapes.
Winemakers have been adding additional sulfites to wines for millenia. The Greeks and Romans used sulfur candles to sterilize their wine barrels and amphorae. Sulfur protects damage to the wine by oxygen, and again helps prevent organisms from growing in the wine. This allows the wine to "last longer" too, which lets it age and develop all of those complex flavors we all love and enjoy so much. If you didn't add sulfites, the wine would turn into vinegar in a matter of months.
Sulfites aren't "bad", as you say...the problem is that some people are allergic to sulfites, just like some people are allergic to peanuts. So, unless you have a sulfite allergy, you can enjoy "regular" wine.
I have tasted the sulfite-free wine and didn't care for the taste...the wine was a blush (I think...it's been several years ago) and it tasted kind of flat. I have, and it doesn;t affect the flavor, but some folks are allergic to it wino...
LOL. It's always good to hear the opinions of weird Shakespeare nerds! LOL.