I was under the impression that wine could not be fermented without creating some sulphur dioxide. There are plently of wines without added SO2, but none without it.
Fred.
"Fred" wrote ...............
Sulphur dioxide (sulfur dioxide in the US) (SO2) is a widely used additive in winemaking, mainly to protect wine from oxidation and to inhibit bacterial growth, and is added at several stages in the process of harvesting grapes and vinification.
Sulphites occur naturally in all living things, and are present in small quantities in unsulphured wines.
It is accepted that wines with an SO2 content of less than 20 parts per million are entitled to be called "sulphite free", however, as you correctly point out, SO2 occurs naturally as a biproduct of the fermentation process.
Zero SO2 in wine is a fallacy (IMNSHO of course).
The fermentation process produces about 7 ppm naturally. Conscientious winemakers try to maintain a level of about 33-35 ppm to keep the wine stable and oxidation free (this was told to me by Olivier Humbrecht). The EU limit for SO2 is 400 ppm.
I do not see a claim that an analysis showed it was free of S02. Not on that page or the PDF they link to at least. They claim it is "preservative free", which they interpret as no added SO2.
Steve Slatcher wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
It is not on that site or the PDF. One of their customers said they said their analysis showed no SO2. Thanks for other replies. I have passed them on to the person on another list that has the problem of SO2 sensitivity.
Fred.
Actually EU legislation forbids this, it simply says that when you have at least 10 ppm of SO2 you are obliged to put "contains sulphites".
It all depends on the type of wine.
The EU limit is 400 ppm only for sweet wines. The limit is much lower, thankfully, for dry reds (160ppm) or dry whites(200ppm). US limit is
350ppm for all wines.Conscientious winemakers will indeed use far less than these limits, Humbrecht's comment on 35ppm are good for whites, but he should have mentioned that reds require even less because they contain antioxydants that come from prolonged skin contact. Red wines made from healthy grapes can get away with around 15-20ppm. Wines treated this way are stable and age well.
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