Wine

[laurelfla]

hi, guys!

it's your buddy Laurel with another alcohol question.

my sister got Connie Sarros's (sp?) lower calorie gluten-free cookbook for Christmas and i was reading in it today. it was published last year, so i don't think it's a question of outdated information. she claims that we have to be careful with imported wines, because, although American wines are generally not fortified, many non-domestics have non-grape ingredients added to them (making them fortified).

we had an italian pinot grigio with dinner tonight and i read the label and all it says is contains sulfites (which i know is a problem for some here). but do i now really have to start worrying about wine? it's just confusing, because this summer my dietitian (who was fairly clueless about things gluten-free) told me to drink American wine only unless i called manufacturers of foreign wines because "they add other ingredients to the wine and don't have the regulatory processes we do here." this sounds like crazy talk to me. please help? i've been drinking domestic and imported for months now and haven't noticed anything... what is all this fortification talk?

[jams]

Very interesting!! I have had some issues with some wines. I wasn't quite sure if it was just alcohol or the wine... but issues anyway. I am intersted to see what others have to say.

[tarnalberry]

hahahaha! italian and french wines have - in many cases - stricter restrictions than US wines. sulfites aren't an additive, they are naturally a part of the grapes and processing, though organic wines are apparently MUCH lower in sulfites, if those bother you. in general, no, wines aren't a problem. I might avoid cheap wines, worrying about fillers, but a good quality wine, according to the vintners I've talked to (two different vineyards where I "know" (friend of a friend), a good wine does not have additives.

[laurelfla]

thanks, Tiffany, that's what i was thinking. good to know!