What are Sulfites, and how are they used?
Sulfites occur naturally in wine during the fermentation process, as well as occur naturally in your body and many other foods. In wine production, the addition of sulfites act as a preservative used to prevent oxidation, bacterial spoilage, and help stabilize the wine. Wine is similar to a cut apple that rapidly turns brown; to prevent an apple from browning you add a little bit of lemon juice. The lemon juice does not change the flavor of the apple it just preserves the apple from breaking down quickly. Sulfites are the same for wine; they are wine’s version of lemon juice. When a winemaker chooses not to use sulfites in the wine they run the risk of having the taste and flavors vary from bottle to bottle and a decreased shelf life, quickly moving from fruity, to nutty, to cardboard, and then to vinegar. A wine without added sulfites is going to be more fragile, lose its aromas and color, and eventually become muddy and cloudy. If too many sulfites are added it can affect the aroma a
Sulfites occur naturally in wine during the fermentation process, as well as occur naturally in your body and many other foods. In wine production, the addition of sulfites act as a preservative used to prevent oxidation, bacterial spoilage, and help stabilize the wine. Wine is similar to a cut apple that rapidly turns brown; to prevent an apple from browning you add a little bit of lemon juice. The lemon juice does not change the flavor of the apple it just preserves the apple from breaking down quickly. Sulfites are the same for wine; they are wine’s version of lemon juice. When a winemaker chooses not to use sulfites in the wine (organically made wines) they run the risk of having the taste and flavors vary from bottle to bottle and a decreased shelf life, quickly moving from fruity, to nutty, to cardboard, and then to vinegar. A wine without added sulfites is going to be more fragile, lose its aromas and color, and eventually become muddy and cloudy. If too many sulfites are added
