40 replies to this topic

[jerseyangel]

I'm terribly sensitive to the slightest bit of gluten and am happy to say that I've never had an issue with wine of any kind.

Thank goodness

[Jestgar]

I, too, drink wine almost every day. I've gotten a headache from excess , but not from gluten.

[nasalady]

As many others have said, I drink red wine everyday and am a HIGHLY sensitive Celiac. If there is a trace amount of gluten in anything, and I eat it, I feel like crap and know I have ingested gluten. I have never, ever gotten sick from any kind of wine I have ingested. In fact, if there is no such thing as a gluten free wine, my blood work should be sky high and I should be in the hospital by now because I drink everyday. I think this all revolves around sulfites or another ingredient people may be sensitive to and not gluten. It just would not be possible for me to drink red wine everyday and not be sick as hell if that statement were true. Either that or I am incredibly lucky to have picked "safe" wines to drink.

My husband and I are both celiacs; I've been gluten free since November and he has since January. He has severe DH right now. I didn't believe that there could be gluten in wine until both of us were glutened by a red wine (a Pinot Noir) from one of our favorite little Central Coast wineries, Claiborne and Churchill.

We are both absolutely certain that the gluten came from the wine, because we hadn't ingested ANYTHING else unusual, and we both had reactions at the same time, and we both drank the wine. We're being extremely careful right now because of his horrible case of DH, which was healing nicely, but has now flared up again.

I sent the winery email asking if they purchased barrels from a European coopersmith who used some sort of wheat paste to seal the barrels. Here is the reply I got:

Hello,
I must say I was totally unaware of this issue until your e-mail. I checked with the representative of the cooperage in Burgundy we get our barrels from, and was told that their paste is a mixture of rye flour, ashes and water. (Apparently every cooper has his own recipe.)
I also learned that the paste is used not to seal the staves but rather to coat the outside of the croze just before the head is put in place. This would seem to me to suggest that the paste is not likely to enter the inside of the barrel. However, I am not claiming any expertise in this matter.
As an added piece of information, we only use new barrels on our Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. We also fill them and rinse them with hot water before using them for wine. For the other wines we use older barrels. I can't imagine that there is any residual wheat gluten in a barrel that has been used for years.
I would think that a scientific study would be useful. Fill a new barrel with water and then after a period of time subject a sample of this water to a protein analysis.
Hope this helps,
Clay Thompson

I looked up what a "croze" is....it's the notch inside the barrel where the barrel head fits. So there is a definite possibility of contamination there. Note that he said that they only use the new barrels for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. And it was a Pinot that glutened us. The rest of the shipment didn't have any effect on us.

As it turns out, several of the larger wineries are supposed to be gluten free, such as Beringer and Kendall Jackson. The only coopersmiths that use wheat or rye paste in barrel construction are in Europe. American wine barrels are gluten free.

Well, that's our experience, for anyone who might benefit from it.

[lobita]

I looked up what a "croze" is....it's the notch inside the barrel where the barrel head fits. So there is a definite possibility of contamination there. Note that he said that they only use the new barrels for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. And it was a Pinot that glutened us. The rest of the shipment didn't have any effect on us.

Huh, how interesting. I thought I had been glutened by a Beringer Pinot Noir a couple of months ago. I mostly drink South American wines now, and usually don't have any problems. I guess it's a matter of the process at each winery.

[NicoleAJ]

For a while I thought I was having problems with sulfites because I was having reactions to a lot of wines, especially imported red wines. But I wasn't having reactions to any other sulfite-containing products. All of this wheat paste stuff is news to me, but it actually makes some sense. Several months back I tried the Tolosa no-oak chardonnay (a San Luis Obispo wine) and really thought it was great, and best of all, I didn't get sick. Since then I have been buying a lot more local wines--though when I go on tastings, I'll be sure to ask where their barrels come from or what kind they use. My diet is so restrictive with gluten, alium, and other intolerances that I'm just not willing to give up wine--that being said, I've gotten sick from quite a few wines, and I'll be sure to be more careful in the future.

[oceangirl]

I love wine. Isn't it the food of the gods? Along with garlic? And fresh basil?


Let's see, how can we change this? "a loaf of bread"... NO! "a rice patty???, a jug of wine and thou?????!"


!Salud!
lisa

[Jeremiah]

"I spoke to my colleague this afternoon, Paul LaPenas of Bay State Wines. There is no such thing as gluten-free wine"

Can this be accurate because we have establised some red wines are gluten free when they are prepared with out the flour or from non-gluten containing barrels, or were you trying to say that your friend is stating there is no way to be certain that red wine could be gluten free since the barrell's origin can never be truly verified?

[irish daveyboy]

"I spoke to my colleague this afternoon, Paul LaPenas of Bay State Wines. There is no such thing as gluten-free wine"

Can this be accurate because we have establised some red wines are gluten free when they are prepared with out the flour or from non-gluten containing barrels, or were you trying to say that your friend is stating there is no way to be certain that red wine could be gluten free since the barrell's origin can never be truly verified?

Wheat Paste to seal Oak Barrels MAY still be practised in small wineries where they make their own barrels, Most modern day Oak barrel makers seal the barrels with an edible wax.

Here's something to read. http://organicwines....o-much-for.html


http://www.celiac.com/gluten-free/topic/29580-wine-barrel-contamination/

Best Regards,
David

[Lorraine F]

Wheat Paste to seal Oak Barrels MAY still be practised in small wineries where they make their own barrels, Most modern day Oak barrel makers seal the barrels with an edible wax.

Here's something to read. http://organicwines....o-much-for.html


http://www.celiac.com/gluten-free/topic/29580-wine-barrel-contamination/

Best Regards,
David

I received this from Columbia Crest, because, although it never makes me sick and I am very careful with my diet, I have had some skin and neurological symptoms that have made me wonder about Columbia Crest. I had believed that California wine was mostly safe. And maybe it is, but those casks are sealed with flour, more often than not, from my research. Anyway, the email:

Re: gluten in your wines?
From:
"info@columbia-crest.com" <info@columbia-crest.com>
View Contact
To: Lorraine F (edited for privacy)

Thank you for contacting Columbia Crest. In answer to your questions:

1) Yes, the Cabernet is aged in oak casks.

2) While our wines are not produced using gluten as a fining agent, it is common practice for barrel makers to seal the barrel heads (the top and bottom of a barrel) with a wheat paste. The paste is applied to the barrel in an area that doesn't directly contact the wine, and all barrels are washed inside and out by the barrel maker and by the Columbia Crest team prior to use
3) There are no additives or flavors added to the wines.
Hope this helps!
Mary Kae
Columbia Crest Concierge


-----Lorraine F (edited for privacy) -----

To: info@columbia-crest.com
From: Lorraine F (edited for privacy)
Date: 01/08/2011 12:43PM
Subject: gluten in your wines?

Three questions regarding Columbia Crest Cabernet Sauvingnon:

1. Is it aged in wooden casks?
2. If so, are the casks sealed with flour and water?
3. What additives and flavors, if any do you add to the wines?

[cap6]

Lol I agree. My blood work would be "to the moon and back" as we have at least a glass every day & go wine tasting once a week. I always figured that I would handle the food limitations of gluten-free as long as i had my wine!

[dilettantesteph]

I recently reacted to a wine too. This kind of information is very helpful. Instead of having to give up on wine completely, I can know what questions to ask to try to find a wine that will be safe for me to drink. Thank you

[Diagnosed]

I'll second your observation about Columbia-Crest.
My experience was with Grand Estates Chardonnay 2009, and the GI symptoms are undeniable.
I've been symptom-free for about six months until last evening. Bummer.

Thanks for doing the research by contacting the company, your efforts have shortened my
source identification time to about 24 hours and I can pour out the bottle.

From the back label:
"Incorporating the practice of Batonnage (the process of hand-stirring wine barrels) with this
Chardonnay enhances the rich, buttery characteristic and compliments the soft oak notes and ripe tropical fruit flavors - Ray Einberger, Winemaker"

I'm thinking Ray had a sandwich for lunch before "hand stirring".
Thanks a heap there, Ray.


[quote name='Lorraine F' timestamp='1294532208' post='666469']
I received this from Columbia Crest, because, although it never makes me sick and I am very careful with my diet, I have had some skin and neurological symptoms that have made me wonder about Columbia Crest. I had believed that California wine was mostly safe. And maybe it is, but those casks are sealed with flour, more often than not, from my research. Anyway, the email:

[mushroom]

I'm thinking Ray had a sandwich for lunch before "hand stirring".
Thanks a heap there, Ray.

Methinks the "hand stirring" referred to here was stirring with a spoon or some such hand-held instrument, rather than 'mechanically'. They would not be wanting to introduce anything into the wine at this point.

[MJ_S]

Here's a video showing how flour paste is used during the making of oak barrels. Judge for yourself how comfortable you are with this (considering most of us have thrown out our wood cutting boards and spoons). Gluten makes its appearance at 6:34:

vimeo


Also, here's a report measuring gluten in "gluten-fined" wine. I didn't even realize they ever use gluten to fine wine. I always contact wineries to make sure they're not using casein, and I haven't even been asking about gluten:

pubmed

[psawyer]

This question keeps coming up here.

If this is an issue, why do NONE of the major advocacy groups list it as a concern? The Canadian Celiac Association declares wine to be gluten-free, without qualification. Every other large support organization has the same view. What do you know that they don't?