PRESERVATIVE FREE & ORGANIC WINE

When I see a bottle saying preservative free or organic my immediate thought is that it’s better for me. So should this thinking also be applied to wine? Most wine (unless stated otherwise) has sulphur dioxide (S02). This can sometimes be labelled as preservative 220. It’s important to understand that sulphur can be added to wine, but it can also be produced naturally in the fermentation process. So if a wine is labelled preservative free it means they haven’t added in any extra sulphur.

WHY DOES WINE HAVE PRESERVATIVES?

This is a good thing in wine! It helps get the wine to you in the best condition possible. However, starting off with the best quality grapes will mean a lot less sulphur will need to be added. Sulphur helps neutralise oxygen so you can keep that bottle open for a few days (if you MUST) without causing the wine to turn.

SO HOW DOES WINE LAST WITHOUT PRESERVATIVES...? This comes back to the natural preservatives that the wine makes itself.

DOES THE PRESERVATIVE IN RED WINE CAUSE HEADACHES? Short answer – NO. However, if you’re allergic in some way to sulphur you are more likely to suffer hay fever type symptoms. If you disagree then this is a good reason to go organic. Even though they can use sulphites, most organic wines contain a much lower sulphur dioxide level than typical wines.

IS ORGANIC / BIODYNAMIC WINE PRESERVATIVE FREE?

Not necessarily. Organic means the vineyard is organically farmed and biodynamic treats the vineyard as a living system – soil fertility, self-sufficiency etc. SO WHAT IS PRESERVATIVE FREE WINE?

Preservative free wine is a loose term. No wines are truly ‘preservative free’ as some S02 will always be released during fermentation and acts as a natural preservative.