If you are a long-time reader of this blog, you’ve no doubt read about our vejus adventures here and here. And you are aware of the influence of Cousin John, our ultra natural friend, who convinced us to embark on this enterprise. That would be Cousin John who is so natural he makes wine out of road kill. Despite the fact that we are farming organically and biodynamically, the one point where we are butting heads with Cousin John is on the question of sulfites. Cousin John, of course, is adamantly opposed to them. We, on the other hand, laugh at his aversion and proffer these facts.
1. Sulfites are naturally occuring compounds on the skins of grapes. So anyone who tells you their wine is “sulfite free” is lying. Any wine, by nature, includes sulfites.
2. One of the most heavily sulfited products is orange juice. So if you regularly ingest a glass of OJ in the morning, you’ve already taken in more sulfite than your evening glass of Pinot Noir. In another instance, two ounces of dried apricots contain ten times more sulfite than a glass of wine.
3. People who scream about their sensitivity to sulfites would be advised to know that most humans cannot detect sulfites at a concentration of less than 150 to 200 parts per million. Most organic wines or fine wines, for that matter, do not add more than 100 parts per million to their wines. Usually considerably less. Our wines are typically 50 ppm.
4. Sulfites are naturally occurring compounds that have been used since ancient Roman and Greek times to preserve wine. They do nothing more dangerous than retard the development of mold, bacteria and fermentation.
But try to tell that to Mr. Natural. Cousin John insisted that we separate the verjus into two separate carboys — one that we could sulfite and one that we would not. Luckily, the sulfited one contained most of the verjus. Because that was the one that lasted.
This is Cousin John's carboy of unsulfited verjus. It is fermenting madly. This is not a good thing.
In our carboy, on the other hand, we added a soupçon of sulfite. Sulfite, that I might remind you, is a naturally occurring compound used since ancient Roman and Greek times. Yes, such a small amount that even the Princess who was disturbed by the pea could not detect this amount of sulfite.
This is an incredibly sophisticated piece of equipment called a Sulfite Tester. It tests sulfite. Our sulfited verjus has 11 ppm of sulfite. Remember that the vast majority of humans can't detect anything lower than about 200 ppm.
So, folks and Cousin John, we are talking about a tiny amount of sulfite. But an amount that allowed our verjus not to ferment. May I elaborate: it allowed our verjus to stay preserved, pristine and usable. Unlike the non-sulfited verjus which will probably have to be tipped down the drain.
The moral of the story here: go natural, but go with common sense. If something is a natural compound that has been used in the processing of said foodstuff for several millennia, well, no matter what the food allergy du jour happens to be, it’s probably safe.
Yes, friends, do not fear the sulfite. Sulfite, at least in the realm of wine and verjus, is your friend.
Addendum: I just came across this Verjus Blog, which has some great ideas for using verjus. Including making a verjus cordial!
So I guess you didn’t boil it then?
Cousin John, I’m guessing a delicate verjus would not stand up to boiling. Something about squashing the floral bouquet and fruit notes…
But I look forward to seeing what you produce from three gallons of fermented verjus. And we’ll save some of the sulfited stuff for you!
Gosh, this is worse than debating politics and religion!
Go in peace, vote often, and drink what you want.
🙂
Makes you just want to say…told you so!
We kid Cousin John. With love. With love.
If I remember my college chemistry from back around the days when there were only like 52 elements, the time to worry is when we start finding sulfates. (For instance, I found some last year on the terminals of my car battery.)
hilarious: That would be Cousin John who is so natural he makes wine out of road kill.
Now, if I can only shake that visual. lol.
Since wine has been with us for thousands of years, was there no good wines before the greek alchemists tampered?
There was good wine, but not wine that could keep. Great Wine journalist Geoffrey Tabor (who wrote the book the movie “Bottle Shock” was based on) wrote about winemaking in the Eastern European country of Georgia, where wine is being made as it was since the dawn of time. The wine is made, crushed, fermented and drunk all in the space of a year or less. Because it doesn’t keep without enough sulfites. Without the Greeks and sulfites, we wouldn’t have fine Bordeaux and the great reds that we put down in the cellar and drink years later after they’ve developed the complexity we love.
How is Cousin John handling this discovery? I have a real life Cousin John too, who I refer to as such 🙂 He is not a gardener though, by any stretch of the imagination…
I’m finishing the book Galileo’s Daughter. During his long ordeal with the Inquisitors and trial and such, his daughter included several accounts of what was happening with the wine at his villa. If you haven’t read it, check it out. Author is Dava Sobel. She also wrote Longitude.
You all at Two Terriers and Cousin John will always agree to disagree and enjoy each other. We just enjoy the interplay.
I hate to admit it, but between the blog, email, Twitter and Facebook, the mail is running solidly in Cousin John’s favor. Clearly everyone loves a Don Quixote character. And we wouldn’t even have done verjus if not for CJ’s urging.