Sulfites: Why or why not?
How is a good bottle of wine like a classy wool suit or a prized painting? Easy: They all require a little special care to keep them in good shape.
I buy all the wines I review and accept no free samples. Your subscriptions make that possible. Please support us: Upgrade to Paid.
This is not rocket science. Hang that museum-quality painting at moderate temperature and humidity and protect it from direct sunlight. Keep moths away from that special suit by keeping it clean and storing it in a breathable bag in a cedar closet.
As for that wine, if you want to keep it around for years while it gains complexity and nuanced flavor over time, you’ll want a temperature and humidity-controlled cellar. Wines that you buy to drink don’t need that careful treatment.
Adding sulfites while the wine is being made is a tried-and-true approach to preservation that goes back thousands of years.
“Nature is the best winemaker.” Hands-on winemaking at Spain’s Bodegas Aroa.
Sulfites work. They preserve wine, keeping it from oxidizing, spoiling, or hosting bacterial growth in the bottle. They don’t alter the wine’s flavor, and for more than 99% of people, they are harmless. That’s a lot to like.
But for that fraction of a percentage point of us who are sulfite-sensitive, this usually helpful additive can range from annoying (headaches, sniffles) to actively dangerous (breathing difficulty, and in the worst case, death).
That’s why wines sold in the United States have been legally required to carry a “sulfites added” warning label since 1987, and the presence of that label apparently prompts a lot more than 1% of the public to worry about sulfites.
Even so, the vast majority of producers weigh the advantages and continue using sulfites – generally the minimum amount needed for preservation. A few winemakers, though, for a variety of reasons, walk on the wild side by making wines without sulfites added. (In fact, a small amount of sulfites occur as a natural effect of fermentation. You can’t make wine without them.)
For more details about sulfites in wine, see my Oct. 10, 2025 column, What? No sulfites?
Why would a winemaker want to produce a wine without this effective preservative? A cynic might suspect a bid to take advantage of the sulfite-fearful. For biodynamic, organic, and natural-wine producers, though, it’s a matter of philosophy.
Let’s talk about low/no-sulfite wines: Do you agree with the conventional wisdom that these wines are best drunk up soon after purchase?
For today’s featured wine, “Le Naturel” Navarra Tinto a red Garnacha (Grenache) made by Aroa Bodegas in Northern Spain’s Navarra region, it’s a declared commitment to walking lightly on the Earth.
“Le Naturel is our collection of wines without added sulfites, for which the key has been the totally natural, meticulous production, using a single ingredient: the grape,” Aroa Bodegas writes on this wine’s online fact sheet.
“In this way we obtain a wine reflecting the vineyard of its origins with no artful devices. … [A]s pioneers in the recovery of organic and biodynamic farming practices … we elaborate all our wines with the minimum possible intervention, and the maximum respect for the fruit of the vineyards.”
Bodegas Aroa is also one of the few wineries in Spain with the Wineries for Climate Protection certificate granted by the Spanish Wine Federation. In lieu of the usual “Contains sulfites” label, Le Naturel’s label points out that the wine “contains naturally occurring sulfites or may contain naturally occurring sulfites.”
So how does it taste? I was impressed. Ripe, fruity, and balanced, it’s a delicious Spanish red, a definite value at its mid-teens U.S. retail price. If you try it, though, drink it up. After six days at room temperature, the remaining half-bottle had picked up the distinct sherry-like aroma of oxidation, and its complex flavors were merging into undifferentiated oxidized red fruit. Buy it now, enjoy it now, but I don’t recommend keeping even unopened sulfite-free wines in the cellar or on the shelf for more than a few months.
Today’s Tasting Report
Bodegas Aroa 2024 “Le Naturel” Navarra Tinto ($17.99)
Organic, biodynamic, grown and made from the Garnacha (Grenache) grape with minimal intervention and no added sulfites, Bodegas Aroa “Le Naturel” shows a clear, dark purple color with bright garnet glints. An appetizing scent of ripe blackberries rises from the glass, joined by fragrant, floral black pepper. Good black-fruit flavors carry over on the palate, blackberries and currants and a peppery note, framed by appropriate, food-friendly acidity and a gentle touch of tannic astringency that lingers in a long finish. 13% alcohol. U.S. importer: Vintae USA Inc., Napa, Calif. (May 23, 2026)
FOOD MATCH: A natural companion with grilled poultry or pork, or a hearty mushroom-focused plant-based omelet or mushroom risotto.
WHEN TO DRINK: It’s made for early consumption, and the absence of the preservative power of sulfiting only underscores that. Drink up this year while we can count on it remaining fresh and delicious.
VALUE:
Wine-Searcher.com lists a $16 average U.S. retail price. It’s a clear value from the mid-teens into the lower $20s.
WEB LINK:
Here’s a Le Naturel fact sheet from the producer Bodegas Aroa.
FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Check prices and find vendors for Bodegas Aroa “Le Naturel” on Wine-Searcher.com.
Read about Spain’s Navarra wine region at this Wine-Searcher link.
Tap this Wine-Searcher link for information about Grenache/Garnacha and the wines it makes.
Find the wines you want
Explore Wine-Searcher
Wine-Searcher.com is the place to go online if you want to find where to buy a particular wine that interests you. What’s more, Wine-Searcher.com offers so much more. It’s well worth a visit just to discover its many features, including its popular list of the world’s Top 10 Best Value Wines.
Good wines we’ve tried under $12!
Want tips to still more good, inexpensive wines? Here are Wine-Searcher links to vendors and prices for a bunch more wines for $12 or less that I’ve told you about in recent years. In some cases, the prices may have risen since I reviewed them, but they should still be excellent bargains. Please tell us about your favorites!
Sponsor the Wine Advisor.
Support The 30 Second Wine Advisor and help us pay the rent while reaching 25,000 dedicated readers with your sponsorship message in this space, at the top of this E-letter, and on our social media. If you’re an established business in wine, food, and similar ventures, there’s no better way to focus your message toward an audience that comes here for just those topics. See our Sponsorship Page, or email Robin Garr for more information.
Wine Forum and Social Media
You’re always welcome to drop by our WineLovers Discussion Group, the Internet’s first and most civil online community. Discussions are open for public viewing, but you must register to post. To request registration, please contact me at wine@wineloverspage.com, tell me your name, mention the Wine Advisor, and briefly say why you’d like to participate in the forum. Sorry about the minor red tape, but this is our simple, low-tech way to deter spammers and bots.
I’d also be delighted to have you visit and “like” our WineLovers Facebook Page.
Find the wines you want
Explore Wine-Searcher
Wine-Searcher.com is the place to go online if you want to find where to buy a particular wine that interests you. What’s more, Wine-Searcher.com offers so much more. It’s well worth a visit just to discover its many features, including its popular list of the world’s Top 10 Best Value Wines.
Good wines we’ve tried under $12!
Want tips to still more good, inexpensive wines? Here are Wine-Searcher links to vendors and prices for a bunch more wines for $12 or less that I’ve told you about in recent years. In some cases, the prices may have risen since I reviewed them, but they should still be excellent bargains. Please tell us about your favorites!
Sponsor the Wine Advisor.
Support The 30 Second Wine Advisor and help us pay the rent while reaching 25,000 dedicated readers with your sponsorship message in this space, at the top of this E-letter, and on our social media. If you’re an established business in wine, food, and similar ventures, there’s no better way to focus your message toward an audience that comes here for just those topics. See our Sponsorship Page, or email Robin Garr for more information.
Wine Forum and Social Media
You’re always welcome to drop by our WineLovers Discussion Group, the Internet’s first and most civil online community. Discussions are open for public viewing, but you must register to post. To request registration, please contact me at wine@wineloverspage.com, tell me your name, mention the Wine Advisor, and briefly say why you’d like to participate in the forum. Sorry about the minor red tape, but this is our simple, low-tech way to deter spammers and bots.
I’d also be delighted to have you visit and “like” our WineLovers Facebook Page.
Read more articles from The 30 Second Wine Advisor
Previous Issue: « Is wine good for us or not?
Such a great write up. I was surprised when I learned that dried fruits (like the bag of dried apricots I pick up from Trader Joe’s) have much higher levels of added sulfites compared to what’s added to wine (otherwise they’d oxidize, or turn brown). I have to pay attention to hydration levels and eating when I drink wine, but I’m convinced my wine headaches aren’t about sulfites.
The warning is “Contains Sulfites” not “Sulfites Added” as the naturally occurring sulfites from fermentation of some wines already exceed the level to trigger the labeling requirement. As for the headaches…I do love the dried fruit experiment.