Friday, July 20 2012

Headaches, Allergies, GMO's and Recycled News

One of the things I hear frequently from people who find out I'm a technical guy for winemaking is, "I'm allergic to the sulphites in wine. What can I do?" Twenty years ago, after approximately the hundredth time I heard this, I started to get a little short with my answers. In my justification, sulphite allergies are such an all-pervasive myth that it seems like an endless tide of misinformation to stand against, and even some of the people who should know better (like wine educators and salesfolk) sometimes give the impression that there's some validity to the idea that sulphites are in some way contributory to allergic responses or headaches from wine. 

Fortunately for my continued work as a wine guy, I realised that if I didn't give the good information, it was my own darn fault if people didn't learn the truth. To whit: human beings can't be 'allergic' to sulphite. An allergy is an inappropriate immune-system response. Sufferers have excessively active white blood cells: when an allergen binds to the mast cells or basophils they produce antibodies that cause an inflammatory response, which can range from mildly annoying to lethal. 

Sulphite, a stable salt of elemental sulphur cannot provoke this immune response--it just does not work this way. 

Common protests against this statement are,

• 'What about sulfa drugs?'

The class of drugs known as 'Sulfa' (actual name, 'Sulfonamides') don't contain any sulphur in any form. The two aren't chemically related. It's like claiming to be allergic to pencils because you are also allergic to penicillin. 

• What about asthma? Sulphites trigger asthma.

Lot's of things trigger asthma that are not allergens. When very high concentrations of sulphite dust or the vapour from a liquid solution comes in contact with mucous membranes (like the alveoli in your lungs) the moisture in them combines to make sulphuric acid. That makes everyone's lungs cramp, not just asthmatics, but it's not an allergy. 

• I'm allergic to sulphite. You're not an allergist! 

No, I'm not. But you're not allergic to sulphite either. I wouldn't possibly comment on this issue without a major backstop--the corporate liablity for it would be horrifying. My source is Dr. Janice Joneja, a pretty darn smart person and a renowned expert on allergies. She's far more adamant about the allergic potential of sulphite in winemaking than I'll ever be (in addition, she's extremely patient and generous with her time towards geeky wine tech guys--thanks Dr. J.) 

So, what is it that causes people's problems with wine? Shunting aside the obvious (drinking too much wine) the biggest contributor to negative response to wine consumption is  bio-amines. Plants produce these as natural defenses against predators, and they work. In humans they provoke immune response, and are the reason why people take antihistamines. 

Ripe grapes don't contain massive amounts of bioamines, and the yeast that causes the fermentation process doesn't add significant quantities of them either. The bio-amines in wine generally come from a secondary fermentation treatment known as 'malolactic fermentation', or MLF. MLF is caused when a bacteria (typically a cultured one added to commercial wines on purpose) consumes the malic acid in wine and converts it into lactic acid. This can be desirable for two reasons: first, malic acid is pretty harsh, tasting like green apples, while lactic acid is softer and easier on the palate. Second, a by-product of MLF is the compound diacetyl, which lends a buttery or melted butter aroma to the the wine. This is so strong that commercially synthesised diacetyl is the flavour ingredient used in microwave popcorn (which is why they call it 'buttery' rather than 'buttered'). MLF is normally only executed on red wines, some Chardonnays and very few other whites.  

 Unfortunately the bacteria also produce bioamines, and these are probably the source for most people's allergic response to wine--since only a few whites get it, it's the source of the 'red wine headache' trope. 

 The super-ultra-hooray-for-me good news is that kit wine never undergoes MLF--I can no longer count the number of times people have told me that they can't drink commercial wine, but are able to enjoy their own home produced wine from my kits. This is just another of the uncountable reasons why it's an absolute genius move to buy wine kits from me and make your own wine for your own self.

But there is a potential path to MLF-treated wines that don't contain bioamines. Which brings us to the recycled news part of the blog, and Hennie van Vuuren.

I first met Dr. Hennie J. J. van Vuuren back in the early 1990's at a winemaking conference in Vancouver. I was a panelist along with the Dr., and although my memory is a bit hazy, but I think that the winemaker for Cedar Creek was there, as well as famous enologist Dr. Bruce Zoecklin, as well as other people, all of them far more distinguished than I was or ever will be. 

Dr. van Vuuren broached an interesting concept in his talk. It was about a new specialty yeast that actually accomplished a malolactic conversion simultaneously with alcohol fermentation. Not only did it quickly and thoroughly convert the malic acid and produce significant diacetyl, it did so without producing bio-amines. I was suitably impressed, because I recognised that this was a heckuva feat of yeast breeding--I would have thought it impossible, even with the little I know of yeast genetics. 

I was right: it would be impossible to breed a yeast like that. This organism was not a product of yeast husbandry and breeding, it was a Genetically Modified Organism, and even more significantly, it was a Trans-Genic life form, a Frankenyeast. 

The Dr. had taken a snippet of MLF bacteria DNA and stitched it into a host yeast cell, and eventually got it to breed true. This is pretty much the same thing as those bizzarre experiments where jellyfish DNA is stitched into mammals to create glow-in-the-dark mousies and kitties. 

 This is a very interesting application of genetic engineering, and has the potential to change the way commercial wines are made, forever. It's such a significant breakthrough that whenever Dr. V hauls it out, he gets a real goose from the press, viz the multiple articles announcing it this month. 

But this is 2012 and the original announcement is now over 20 years old. You think that something this significant would have much broader appeal and be in greater use than this article indicated, after two decades of promotion by Dr. V and his department, wouldn't you? 

Not so much--not because the yeast wouldn't be useful. It probably is. And not because it's not safe. There's no indication of that. It's because of consumer reaction to the idea that they would be consuming the by-product of Frankenengineering in their wine. 

People have every right to be concerned about what goes into their bodies. There are also very good reasons to consider the wider implications of genetic engineering both on our food supply and the biosphere--it turns out that come genetically modified crops are probably responsible for the massive die-offs of honey bees around the world, and weird consequences of highly modified organisms escaping their fields and exchanging genetic information with standard, unmodified crops show up every week. Any bottle of wine with a note on the label that said, 'Product of Genetically Modified Organisms' on the label would be a very hard sell. 

And not just a hard sell on its own merits. If  I were a competing producer and another winery started using the yeast I'd take the opportunity to put them out of business--it wouldn't even take a smear campaign, just a bit of awareness. Consumers would take care of the rest, because nothing catches the imagination like Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt, and there'd be a lot of FUD in the air over this. 

I respect what Dr. V did with this yeast, and his aims. I'm pretty sure, however, that unless there's a seismic shift in consumer sentiment about the wisdom of letting Trans-Genic organisms enter the food supply, I'll see this pop up again in another six or seven years on a slow news day. 

In the meantime? If red wine headaches bother you, and you miss drinking red wine, you can always make your own--I even know a guy in the business who could help you out. Just sayin'. 

Posted by Sulphite Headache Sam AT 2:19PM

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