On Mon, 7 Aug 2006, Mike Lyle wrote:

Another poster has mentioned the question of sterilisation. Sulphur and
bleach, or fancy proprietary products (also chlorine-based, I suppose),
are the only methods I know about: copper sulphate's allowed under
organic rules in Bordeaux mixture, so I don't see why a sulphite
shouldn't be allowed for sterilising. In the old days, I think they
used to sterilise casks by fumigating them with burning sulphur.

They still do. In fact in most of the vineyards that I've visited they
ferment in stainless steel vessels and then rack the wine off into oak
casks to mature. Oak is still an important flavour in fine wines. You
often see "matured in oak" on the labels.

To stabilise finished wine, Campden tablets (sodium metabisulphite) are
usual; but some people react to it, so ascorbic acid (vitamin C) can be
used instead -- though I've never tried it. I wouldn't be surprised to
learn that sulphite isn't organically acceptable as an additive in the
wine itself: producers probably rely on good hygiene to protect the
wine in bottle.

There has been a problem with some producers, whose hygiene leaves a
little to be desired, using too much sulphur to stabilise the wine. You
can often see wine tasters on television complaining about the amount of
sulphur in the wines.

David

--
David Rance http://www.mesnil.demon.co.uk
Fido Address: 2:252/110 writing from Le Mesnil Villement, Calvados, France

In article ,
David Rance writes:
|
| There has been a problem with some producers, whose hygiene leaves a
| little to be desired, using too much sulphur to stabilise the wine. You
| can often see wine tasters on television complaining about the amount of
| sulphur in the wines.

It's nothing to do with hygiene, and a great deal to do with chance
and alcoholic strength. The things that they are trying to kill are
as normal and widespread as the yeasts.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On Mon, 7 Aug 2006, Nick Maclaren wrote:

| There has been a problem with some producers, whose hygiene leaves a
| little to be desired, using too much sulphur to stabilise the wine. You
| can often see wine tasters on television complaining about the amount of
| sulphur in the wines.

It's nothing to do with hygiene, and a great deal to do with chance
and alcoholic strength. The things that they are trying to kill are
as normal and widespread as the yeasts.

Well, yes you're right in that some French producers (on the advice I am
reliably informed of an English wine producer, whose word I don't trust
for a minute) are now using massive doses of sulphur to kill off natural
yeasts and introducing cultivated yeasts. Now this is a practice well
known to English winemakers, especially where the wine yeasts are not
endemic but not, I would have thought, worth doing on the continent. But
even in my own humble little vineyard I have managed to get a wine yeast
to stay around to the extent that I haven't used a yeast starter for
some years and rely entirely on one Campden tablet per gallon to kill
off any apiculata yeasts and then let the natural wine yeast do its
work. And it *does* work.

David

--
David Rance http://www.mesnil.demon.co.uk
Fido Address: 2:252/110 writing from Le Mesnil Villement, Calvados, France

On 7/8/06 21:27, in article ,
"David Rance" wrote:
snip

There has been a problem with some producers, whose hygiene leaves a
little to be desired, using too much sulphur to stabilise the wine. You
can often see wine tasters on television complaining about the amount of
sulphur in the wines.

I seem to remember being told in USA that the cheaper the wine in the first
place, the more sulphur used and that it could give some people really
dreadful headaches. I can certainly bear witness to the latter!

--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(email address on website)