Foreign wine labels are not always all-inclusive

It is not completely uncommon for headaches to occur after drinking wine. Not from hangovers, but something else entirely. Sulfites – a form of the very common, natural, nonmetallic element sulfur that prevents food and wine from spoiling – are often blamed.

However, Frederick Freitag, associate director of the Diamond Headache Clinic in Chicago, told the Wall Street Journal that sulfites can cause allergy and asthma symptoms, but they don’t cause headaches.

According to Bill St. John in a contribution piece for The Denver Post, wine labels do not list always list sulfite, but that does not mean that the ingredient is not there. United States regulations dictate that wines sold in America have “contains sulfites” on their labels.

“My sadly returning vacationers further claim that winemakers in other countries ‘must make a separate wine for export.’ They do not,” St. John wrote. “The Antinori Chianti Classico that you drink in Tuscany is the same Antinori Chianti Classico that you drink in Thornton. The reason that you didn’t get a headache drinking it in Tuscany is that you were on vacation. In Tuscany.”

St. John added that there is not a wine in existence that is completely sulfite-free. A wine label might say “No added sulfites,” but the ingredient itself is a natural byproduct of fermentation. The amount might vary from bottle to bottle, but wines containing more than 10 mg/liter of sulfite and sold in the United States must mention – by governmental laws – that it “contains sulfites.”

Regardless of a winery’s recipe for Riesling or Merlot, it is important to adhere to any necessary labeling requirements. In order to design custom labels that are also eye-catching, using a Primera LX900 color label printer can be very beneficial.