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suffer the sulfur Print
Written by Nikitas Magel   

Now, none of this is to say that the production of all wines must necessarily involve the addition of sulfur dioxide.  Some winemakers choose to go without it — although this still does not make for sulfite-free wine, since traces of sulfur dioxide are produced by yeasts during fermentation.  Nevertheless, the choice to abstain from adding it requires a great deal of vigilance on the part of the winemaker, to prevent oxygen from accessing the grape must (juice) or wine during every stage of the production process.  And that approach has its risks:

"Toward the end of the twentieth century it became fashionable to reduce levels of SO2 additions.  As we have seen, levels of sporadic bottle oxidation (particularly in white wines) and Brettanomyces (in red wines) rose in direct consequence.  There has been a reversal in practice [since]… Skillfully and rationally used, the effect of SO2 is beneficial, particularly in the case of wines intended for medium- to long-term cellaring."{footnote}James Halliday & Hugh Johnson, The Art & Science of Wine (London: Mitchell Beazley, 2006), 221.{/footnote}

But even in wines where the additive is used, great care is taken to control exposure to oxygen — especially among producers of high quality wine.  The reason is that sulfur dioxide should really be used as an adjunct to the conscientious control of oxygen and bacteria in the production process, not as a way to make up for sloppy winemaking.  After all, too much of a good thing is, well, bad.  In high doses, the additive is toxic. {footnote}There are cases wherein people have died eating fruit salad that had been carelessly overdosed with sulfur dioxide.{/footnote}  But while there's no cause for alarm, since the small, controlled amounts used in winemaking are well below those legally-defined toxic limits, it's not a panacea to carelessness.   Quality-minded producers practice judicious use of the additive. end

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