Allergens and Wines

Filed in archive Wine Making on January 16, 2007

More and more I've been seeing allergen warning signs posted, sometimes on food, sometimes at place I've eaten. Anyone who suffers from severe allergies depends on knowing what exactly is in the food and drinks they consume because often there are ingredients in there that you'd never expect to find. Wine is a beverage that falls into that category, not necessarily because something like eggs are mixed in with the wine, but because they may somehow be used in the processing of the wine.

While it tends to be a controversial issue among wine makers and wine drinker, I tend to lean on the side of including a label that indicates what's in there. I guess most wine makers are against this though according to much of what I've been reading, most recently this article "Vintners may have to label allergens:"

Vintners have been using byproducts from milk, eggs, wheat and even fish guts in the wine-making processes for centuries.

But a new federal proposal could require American wineries to disclose such unsavory items - used as "fining" agents to remove grit - as ingredients. The proposal, which could be passed by the end of the year, would require companies to redesign the labels on every bottle to protect people who are allergic to certain foods.

Executives at Sonoma and Napa county wineries and their trade groups say few, if any, wine drinkers suffer allergic reactions from fining agents, which are nearly untraceable by the time consumers uncork or unscrew their bottles.

"It's a solution in search of a problem," said Pete Downs, vice president of governmental affairs for Santa Rosa's Kendall-Jackson Wine Estates. "I kind of feel like it's Shakespearean in nature. It's much ado about nothing."

Wine industry veterans say the labels could mislead consumers, leading them to believe wine contains milk or fish membranes. Vintners use a milk protein called casein and a substance derived from the inner membrane of the air bladders of sturgeon, called isinglass, to bind with yeast, bacteria and excess tannins that are naturally found in the winemaking process. Thanks to the binding agents, the larger molecules sink to the bottom of the barrel, leaving the wine above it clean.

"It's kind of like sweeping the wine," said Bill Nelson, president of the wine lobby Wine America.

The U.S. Treasury Department's Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau is expected to publish a final rule on the issue by late 2007.