Organic grown Wines - Preservative Free Wine - Bio dynamic grown Wines
Organic and free of preservative wines are unfortunately hard to find.
Many bottle shops only stock conventional wines.
We at useNature urge every Organic - Bio dynamic wine grower to apply at least for a free listing. ( see here )
This will give our visitors and readers the opportunity to find an appropriate wine dealer.
Organic Wine Information:
One misconception about Organic Wine in Australia is that it contains no preservatives.
Certification requirements vary across the world, but in Australia, under organic & bio dynamic certification, the amount of preservative allowed in the final product is about 50% of what can be used under conventional Australian food standards for wine.
However, In the USA, to label your wine as "Organic Wine" no preservative can be added at all.
Sulphur Dioxide E220 (SO2) is the principle preservative used in the production of wine, as a protection against oxidation and bacterial spoilage. Sulphur dioxide is an extremely effective preservative and disinfectant that has been used in winemaking for thousands of years. ( not that this is making it any better for people who react to it )
It may be worth mentioning, that there are more preservatives used in making white wines than red wines.
However, E220 is not the only substance which you may react to, Oak-derived tannins , can provoke an allergic reaction by promoting histamine production, causing headaches. Oak is widely used in red winemaking.
And talking of allergic reactions, if you have an intolerance to salicilates, you may also react to wines, esp. if you have more than you should :-) .
Salicilates intolerance is triggered by having too much of it, if you are lucky you may tolerate 1 glass, esp. if you had no other salicilates containing food or drinks within the same day.
Regarding Allergies or Sensativities to Wine - please be aware, that alcohol will make any type of allergies worse.
In Australia, Sulphur Dioxide addition is allowed to the maximum level of 250 ppm for dry wines, up to 300 ppm for sweet wines. This is equivalent to just one-and-a-half tablespoons per 1,300 bottles of wine. By comparison, sulphur dioxide is often used more liberally in preserved fruit such as dried apricots, which are allowed up to 3,000 ppm.
Few winemakers use more than 120 ppm of sulphur dioxide in white wines, red wines are usually given 50–80 ppm for bottled wine.
If you’re sensitive to preservative levels in your wine, it would be advisable to drink only bottled dry red wines, rather than white and sweet styles.
Current additive labeling laws in Australia state that if the detectable amount of preservative in a wine is more than 10 ppm, it needs to be on the label.
For health and allergy considerations it is the free sulphur level that is the main concern. The figure usually quoted is made up of both the bound sulphur and the free sulphur, which added together give the total sulphur level.
Please Note:
Even wines that have had no sulphur dioxide added in the winemaking process can still contain minute quantities. Sulphur dioxide is a natural product of fermentation, but it is in a form that is very much bound up in the wine, rather than in a free and active state.
The term "Preservative Free" is just used to indicate that no sulphur has been added to the wine.
Bottling - Screw cap closure is a more perfect seal than the cork or cask, and hence less sulphur is needed.
Wineries are allowed to call a wine sulfite-free when the levels of sulfite are under 10 parts per million (ppm).
Feel free to contribute, send us your experiences with Allergies and Natural Therapies - Contact us here
Information and recommendation provided by Dieter L. - useNature - Editor