What? No sulfites?

Today we’re tasting a Saperavi, the Republic of Georgia’s iconic grape, but this one’s grown and made in France, and it contains zero added sulfites.

The wine, I can tell you, is dark and rich and really very good. But these oddities do raise a couple of questions worth addressing:
• What is Saperavi?
• And, is purging the sulfites from commercial wine even a good idea?

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Saperavi
The first question is easy. Saperavi (“sah-pear-AH-vee”) is an ancient grape, perhaps one of the world’s most ancient cultivated grapes. It comes from the Caucasus mountains where Europe meets Asia – particularly in the Georgian Republic – and it thrives in the region’s cool, mountainous conditions. It’s almost black in color when ripe, and produces juice so dark that it’s often used in blends to add color to other, paler red grapes.

Today’s featured wine, Campuget Saperavi Vin de France, is 100% Saperavi and displays the dark color, ripe black-fruit aromas and flavors, and acidity and tannin associated with the grape. This made-in-France model is produced without any sulfites beyond those that occur naturally in fermentation.

Saperavi, an ancient, dark-skinned variety, is the landmark grape of the Republic of Georgia and finds its natural home in cool growing regions in the Caucasus mountains and near the shores of the Black Sea.
Saperavi bunch image from GWA, the Georgian Wine Association.

Sulfites
So what’s the deal with sulfites, and why would a respected producer like Château de Campuget want to leave them out of its wine? U.S. regulations have required a “contains sulfites” warning label on wine bottles since 1987. This is because a sulfite allergy is a dangerous and potentially fatal condition. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Adverse Reaction Monitoring System, which keeps track of reported sulfite reactions in the U.S., reports fewer than 10 incidents of serious injury or death per year involving sulfites from all food sources, not just wine.

And so, even though the threat is relatively small, the consequences can be beyond serious for those affected, so the FDA requires that all foodstuffs containing more than 10 parts per million of sulfites – which includes virtually all wines – must bear a warning label.

Here’s a fun fact: All wines, even those billed as “no sulfites added,” still contain some sulfites. They are created naturally as a byproduct of fermentation in the wine-making process. Historically, for thousands of years, winemakers have added even more sulfites as a natural preservative to prevent the wine from spoiling in the bottle.

Those unfortunate people who have been diagnosed by a physician as sulfite-sensitive asthmatics can suffer a life-threatening allergic reaction if exposed to sulfites in wines, pickles, sausages, and many other good things. If you fall into this category, you know what you must avoid.

But the federally mandated warning label has scared a much larger number into assuming that it’s sulfites that cause their wine headaches or even, perhaps, impairs their ability to drive a car or operate machinery.

If you find that you get stuffy or headachy after drinking wine, you are most likely reacting to histamines, a common allergen that occurs primarily in red wines. These symptoms are not typical of a sulfite allergy. If wine gives you a headache and you’re worried about this, please talk with your family physician. Don’t deny yourself the joy of wine on the basis of a self-diagnosis.

Producer Château de Campuget’s website takes obvious pride in its decision to make this Saperavi as near to sulfite-free as nature will permit: “To work without sulfites is to work without a net, in the very pure expression of grapes.”

Occasionally we try a wine with no added sulfites. Is this something you would like, or something you’d rather avoid?

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