This is a hot topic at the moment as more and more people are investigating the effects the sulphites in a bottle of wine have on them. I would say the issue is being deliberately clouded by the government and the big players in the industry, although I’m sure they would say they’re ‘doing all they can to help but it’s complicated’.

Basically there are two major points to make. The first is that sulphites occur in all wines and there is no such thing as a genuine sulphite free wine.

The second point is that there’s a huge difference between minimal amounts of naturally occurring sulphites as found in all wines, and the large amounts of additional sulphites added to inferior wines as a preservative.

However there’s no legislation to make the producers state the amount of sulphite a wine contains, so the wine consumer cannot tell from the label and as a result is buying the wrong wine. This is because it’s a multi billion pound industry and a huge earner for the UK government too. If wine had the same regulations applied to it as food currently does, there would be up to 40 different additives listed on the back labels of some of the major brands! The excuse for not doing so? ‘It’s complicated’ – ‘fair enough’ say the UK government and the EU which consists of several of the biggest wine producing countries in the world.

How can you tell if a wine contains added sulphites?

Quite simply, if you apply a bit of common sense you can avoid anything obviously heavy on sulphites. Firstly I’ll explain the problem, then give you the solution. Wine was traditionally made locally all over the world in small wineries, often no bigger than a shed or an outbuilding, by someone who owned a field planted with vines. Sulphites occur naturally in tiny quantities in grape skins and are also produced in small quantities during fermentation. So all wine contains a small amount of sulphites.

Now with globalisation, wine production has progressed onto a massive scale, made in sterile factories. This is BIG business. The big corporations need huge quantities of grapes, and driven by price these tend to be very poor quality. They’re then fermented and turned into poor quality wine. Up to 40 different chemicals and preservatives are then added to hold the wine together till it can get to market. Here the big companies are very clever – they spend next to nothing producing the wine but spend millions on marketing, producing an internationally recognised brand. Some of these wines actually consist of more chemical solution than grape juice!

Think about price for a moment. Our Chancellor charges £1.65 (excise duty and customs tax) on any wine commercially imported into the uk – plus vat on top of this, so a wine selling for £3.99 in a supermarket breaks down something like this:

£0.52 vat

£1.65 excise duty

£0.30 overseas transport

£0.30 packaging and labelling

£0.50 producer’s margin

£0.50 supermarket margin

£3.77 total cost leaving £0.22 for production of the wine! So how good do you expect that wine to be? I would expect it to be over 50% chemicals at this price!

Unfortunately as our Chancellor has increased excise duty by £0.36 per bottle of still wine under 15% abv (more on wines above this and on sparkling wines) in the last 18 months, and as the pound has weakened severely, the price of wine has rocketed. It used to be 3 for £10 on poor quality wine in the supermarket, and £6 a bottle for something reasonable. These price points have moved dramatically and it’s now difficult to find a good wine below £8 or so. And if you pay £5 per bottle in the supermarket you’re likely to get very poor, over chemicalled wine.

Basically, if you’re looking for decent quality wine low in chemicals avoid the supermarkets and multiple retailers. Avoid ALL big brands as advertised on TV. Not even the most successful family producers can afford this kind of advertising – think about it, it’s basic economics - every pound spent on advertising is a pound not spent on production! Also be prepared to spend around £8 per bottle – if money’s tight maybe reduce the quantity for better quality?

Where do I find good wine low in sulphites at the right price?

Thankfully there are many family owned producers still making excellent quality wines. It’s best to look for something from a smaller family owned winery with a good reputation who make their wines with pride. There are several good independent wine merchants out there who retail this kind of wine, and now thanks to the interweb it’s readily available to buy nationwide.

www.goodwineonline.co.uk specialise in award winning, low sulphite wines from all the major wine producing countries. As Jane suffers from a sulphite intolerance, they only sell good wines that they’re prepared to drink themselves! (there aren’t many wine merchants out there who can say that). They import some excellent wines from small, boutique family owned vineyards with the emphasis firmly on quality. They’re also extremely keen on price and are the cheapest UK retailer for virtually every wine they sell, so you really can’t go wrong. Add to that ‘next working day delivery’ and a clean and clear website with easy to understand genuine tasting notes (not just the text off the back label), and it’s easy to see why this business is booming in these uncertain economic times.

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This debate seems to be never ending and is still a hot topic in the wine trade today. The cork closure system is supported by predominantly the old world wine producers, based more on tradition than any real merit. Screwcap closure is perceived by many of these people to cheapen the product in the bottle.  However, new world producers who are more accepting of change and progress generally favour the screwcap.

Old school wine buffs like to have the cork pulled by the waiter at the table with an audible pop, and admittedly that is a pleasant sound. The whole performance loses a little dramatic effect when the waiter simply cracks the seal on a screwcap! But, let’s be honest, this about the wine not the performance and ceremony, and here screwcap wins the argument outright.

There are two main problems caused by cork closure. The first is cork taint which figures suggest can affect as many as 1 in 10 bottles! Have you ever had a bottle where you know the wine’s good because you’ve had it before? But this time there’s something not quite right but you can’t put your finger on it. It tastes a little bitter or the fruit’s not quite showing through. This is cork taint. The wine’s not fully oxidised, just not quite as good as it should be.

The other problem is oxidation. This is caused by air (oxygen) getting into the bottle and reacting with the wine. Corks are normally inserted into bottles under pressure to give as tight a fit as possible. However, it’s virtually impossible to achieve a perfect fit between a cork and a glass bottle. In some cases, when air enters the bottle, the wine oxidises and develops a pungent smell and an unpleasant taste. It’s then undrinkable, unless of course you’re used to the mass produced popular brands, then you probably wouldn’t notice the difference!

Screwcap doesn’t have either of these problems. Virtually every bottle arrives at the table in perfect condition, so it makes perfect sense to seal every wine with a screwcap. In new world wine producing countries this method of closure is accepted, even on the very best wines. And logically it should be used on the best wines as a priority. It’s the general perception of the wine consumers which needs to alter, through education and information. The major problem here is the damage has already been done by the big brands. As screwcap costs less than cork, the major brands have always used screwcap on their cheap and nasty wines, and this has rubbed off and tarnished the image of screwcap, so people automatically associate it with poor wine.

To dispel this association we need more quality wine  sealed with screwcaps, but until the consumer has faith that some screwcap wines can be good, the old school producers of good wines will stick to cork - and a percentage of their wines will still turn out to be tainted or oxidised by the time they are consumed! If you have a sensible solution to this conundrum please write in! Personally, I’m delighted to drink screwcap wine. It’s always in top condition and the bottle can be resealed for a couple of days if necessary to keep the wine drinkable for longer.

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With the recent sunshine and warm weather, I’ve found myself, against all the laws of probability, drinking sparkling wine!

Now I remember sparkling wine twenty years ago when it was all highly acidic cheap Cava, unless you could afford a second mortgage to splash out on a bottle of genuine Champagne – and I don’t mean the frankly awful mass produced brands like Moet which is basically a sugar solution with a hint of grape dipped in. These were the days of Cava or Asti, and not much else for the working man, which helps explain why sparkling wine was symbolically purchased for a celebration or present, as nobody had any real interest in actually drinking it!

Producers of quality wines have consistently been baffled as to why their sparkling wines just wouldn’t sell in the UK. Twenty years ago the UK wine consumer was not prepared to pay a premium for such a poor product, and unfortunately that image has stuck. Although we wine merchants know the quality of these wines has improved dramatically, it’s now the reputation of these wines and the perception of the UK wine lover the producers have to work on.

In the last few years there’s been a revolution in quality wine production the world over, due to advancements in technology such as irrigation systems and temperature controlled fermentation. Good wine is now being made everywhere as the producers can now control (to a degree at least) the unpredictable weather and it’s affects on their crops. It’s only the giant corporations mass producing cheap, heavilly chemicalled ‘wines’ that keeps the quality so low in the supermarkets and multiple retailers. Get away from these mass brands and it’s actually getting harder to find bad wines.

So I started my new exploration of sparkling wines with Prosecco which can be fantastic if you get a good one. There are poor quality mass produced ones, high in sulphites, out there, but if you go for one from a reputable producer (and don’t just buy the cheapest) you should be in for a treat. Prosecco is produced in various areas of Northern Italy but Valdobbiadene is the premier DOC making the best wines. They tend to have good fruit flavour, fine mousse and superbly balanced acidity with a dry finish, making them delicious as an aperitif, rather than just as a celebration wine. Now, Iv’e been drinking these sat in the sun in the early evening and I’ve loved it. I never really considered this part of the day for drinking wine – I’d normally have a red with an evening meal, or a white if I was having delicate seafood, but have a red on a hot sunny afternoon? Not for me. So a dry white? Again I want something light and refreshing and this is where Prosecco fits the bill. But I’ve also rediscovered Prosecco ‘Frizzante’ (as opposed to the usual ‘Spumante’). This is semi sparkling and just as lovely and full flavoured, but even lighter for afternoon sipping. These tend to come with a cork top which still needs a corkscrew but goes off with a pop, a sort of half and half sparkling wine. This style of wine is big in Northern Italy but I wondered where it would fit in the UK market as sparkling wines are seen as a celebration drink. The answer is as an afternnon tipple or with a light lunch, or as an aperitif in the evening before moving onto a bigger wine with the meal. I strongly recommend you give it a try.

Now I’m also a huge fan of Morton Estate’s sparkling wines from New Zealand. Morton are one of New Zealand’s very best wine producers and are Chardonnay and Pinot Noir experts, and they also grow the third Champagne grape – Pinot Meunier, as found in their Morton Methode Traditionelle Black Label Vintage 2000, which is quite simply exquisite. I’m now working my way through the best from South Africa and Argentina too.

Forget the image of Sparkling Wine from the 1990′s and give it another try. It really can be a delight and is much better and much cheaper than the popular branded Champagnes!

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