Winos: No Sulfites in Italian Wine?
Jul 6th, 2013, 12:33 AM
#41
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kybourbon: Unless you have also visited and drank the wines in France or Italy and experienced it first hand, you are in no position to comment.
For it to be chalked up as a placebo effect, I would have had to have (and all the other people providing anecdotes would had to have) expected the different effects before going over there. As it stands I had no knowledge of this and wasn't expecting the effects of my wine drinking to be any different.
I'm pretty sure that if I downed a bottle of whiskey but was tricked into thinking that it wasn't alcohol I was consuming, I would still get a hangover. Placebo effect as an explanation doesn't really cut it.
For it to be chalked up as a placebo effect, I would have had to have (and all the other people providing anecdotes would had to have) expected the different effects before going over there. As it stands I had no knowledge of this and wasn't expecting the effects of my wine drinking to be any different.
I'm pretty sure that if I downed a bottle of whiskey but was tricked into thinking that it wasn't alcohol I was consuming, I would still get a hangover. Placebo effect as an explanation doesn't really cut it.
Jul 6th, 2013, 03:33 AM
#42
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I would reguarly drink drink a half bottle of Australian Shiraz and Cab Sav (hell - that's only a couple of glasses!) and have certainly not had any bad effect from that amount - I had a half bottle of Italian Red (13.5%) tonight - rather good, and I feel fine!
I have had people tell me that they think that there is a definite link between the quality of the wine and how bad it makes you feel if you drink large amounts - cheap wine, full of preservatives and god-knows what else gives one ill effects in the morning.
Perhaps however, this is more related to binge-drinkers hitting the cheap stuff, while those enjoying more expensive bottles are likely to be doing it with good food, good company and decent conversation, and not consuming with high speed or great volume?
I have had people tell me that they think that there is a definite link between the quality of the wine and how bad it makes you feel if you drink large amounts - cheap wine, full of preservatives and god-knows what else gives one ill effects in the morning.
Perhaps however, this is more related to binge-drinkers hitting the cheap stuff, while those enjoying more expensive bottles are likely to be doing it with good food, good company and decent conversation, and not consuming with high speed or great volume?
Jul 6th, 2013, 03:24 PM
#44
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Funnily enough the wine I was drinking in Italy that gave me no hangover was, for the most part, under 10 euro. Most of the wine I consume in Aus is generally around $20 Australian dollars or more. Still the hangover.
Jul 6th, 2013, 07:34 PM
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Yeah, the discussion has gone beyond what the original post is about but finding an answer as to why there seems to be differing effects is difficult.
Kybourbon: I don't want to imagine it's different from wine sold in Australia (not the US) I'm just talking from experience that it has had a different effect (and it appears a lot of people have had a similar experience) and I'm looking for a possible explanation. Yours aren't helping.
Kybourbon: I don't want to imagine it's different from wine sold in Australia (not the US) I'm just talking from experience that it has had a different effect (and it appears a lot of people have had a similar experience) and I'm looking for a possible explanation. Yours aren't helping.
Jul 7th, 2013, 06:39 AM
#51
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I don't know what the reason is but there is definitely a difference when drinking wine in Italy/France and the US. I have never had a hangover feeling in Italy/France and have drank alot of wine and usually just the house wine. In the US I can have 1 glass and get a headache (and it is not cheap wine). Whether it is something in the wine, eating and walking more, being more relaxed when on vacation, I don't know but there is definitely a difference just wish I knew why.
Jul 10th, 2013, 10:09 AM
#52
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I love my old 2005 thread, it lasts so long it must be full of sulfites!
I wrote that I get slightly buzzed and what I meant was just feelin' relaxed and a little buzzy feeling from the Italian wine at lunch (in Italy).
I can drink the same wines here and feel groggy and down and out right away. I don't drink cheapy wines here or there and
I had no preconceived notion of what to expect. Who knows and I am not a binge drinker. I do like the Frey wines mentioned in the article.
I wrote that I get slightly buzzed and what I meant was just feelin' relaxed and a little buzzy feeling from the Italian wine at lunch (in Italy).
I can drink the same wines here and feel groggy and down and out right away. I don't drink cheapy wines here or there and
I had no preconceived notion of what to expect. Who knows and I am not a binge drinker. I do like the Frey wines mentioned in the article.
Jul 10th, 2013, 11:11 AM
#53
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Well, since we are using anecdotal evidence...I know for me the difference between drinking wine in Europe with no effects and feeling the effects more quickly in the U.S. is that in Europe I tend to drink more water since we do order it and pay for it with the meal. At home (in the U.S.), I am very bad about remembering to drink enough water or not crazy about the taste.
Jul 11th, 2013, 12:53 AM
#54
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We run a cooking school just outside Lucca. Over the past 4 years we have hosted over 100 guests from all around the globe. A lot of our table wine is bought from a bulk facility for around 2 euro per litre. We have the option of buying 11, 12 or 13% alcohol. The red varietal is mostly Sangiovese. Everyone comments on how quaffable it is, and also how well they feel in the morning compared to the effects from drinking the wine from their own country. I don't know what the reason is as 13% is high in Australia as well. Our dinners are long, there is a lot of water on the table.
Some of our English friends have tried to take it home with them and been appalled at how bad it tasted after a few days or perhaps being flown home. It certainly needs to drunk quickly.
Some of our English friends have tried to take it home with them and been appalled at how bad it tasted after a few days or perhaps being flown home. It certainly needs to drunk quickly.
Aug 10th, 2013, 10:20 AM
#55
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"To reduce your risk of cancer, drink red wine from Chile. Chilean cabernet sauvignon is 38 percent higher than French wine in flavonols, which are antioxidants that plunder cancer-causing free radicals."
Aug 10th, 2013, 11:54 AM
#56
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I thought US wines tended to have slightly more alcohol than a lot of European wines, maybe 1-2 pct, which obviously could affect you. I personally don't notice any difference, I prefer European wines to Californian, but that is a matter of taste, not because of headaches or drunkiness. I will "feel" the wine after about the same number of glasses in either place, which is rare but is maybe 3 for me.
I have a German friend who doesn't like American wines, either, and she has made some comments about this effect thing (I can't recall if it is headaches or what), and she says it is due to the oak aging they do in California a lot. I have no idea, she must have read that somewhere as you couldn't come up with that idea on your own.
I don't understand the idea that wine gives you headaches because it isn't as "fresh" as in Italy where the restaurants are close to the vineyards, as someone said. Some people age wine for many years, obviously, and while some young wines don't age well, others do. But I have never heard that it is better to drink wine within days or hours of its being made.
I have a German friend who doesn't like American wines, either, and she has made some comments about this effect thing (I can't recall if it is headaches or what), and she says it is due to the oak aging they do in California a lot. I have no idea, she must have read that somewhere as you couldn't come up with that idea on your own.
I don't understand the idea that wine gives you headaches because it isn't as "fresh" as in Italy where the restaurants are close to the vineyards, as someone said. Some people age wine for many years, obviously, and while some young wines don't age well, others do. But I have never heard that it is better to drink wine within days or hours of its being made.
Aug 10th, 2013, 04:15 PM
#57
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Parisbound1 on Feb 1, 13 at 11:01am
It's been a long time since someone has posted on this thread but I am going to revive it and hopefully get some ideas...
I have taken my mom to Italy twice now and each time she has gotten this weird reaction on her face. It has swelled up and it's hard to describe since it's not a typical swelling. It's almost like she is burned and it has a elephant-man look to the swelling... where her jowls jut out strangely. SO, all I can think of, since it's happened twice now, is she HAS to be allergic to something she is getting in Italy. We drink a LOT of wine in Italy (why not right?) and I was thinking it had something to do with the wine? This is an interesting thread that caught my eye when googling the effects of sulfites. Any experts here know of any allergies to wine outside the US? I'm sure we can all be allergic to any little thing and not really know it but wondered how plausible it would be that it had something to do with the wine? Ideas?
For a few years I was a wine consultant providing wine tastings at various trade and home shows. I heard of effects similar to those you describe. It was always from a woman and was always associated with red wine. They were no more specific than "red wine," which can be darn near anything and have stuff other than sulfites added to it. I wrote an essay on German wines which you may find of interest. See http://tinyurl.com/kx9t5je. There is a short mention of sulfites. They are everywhere but at the amounts present in wines I doubt that this chemical would have a noticeable effect on very many people. In years past Italian wine bottlers were caught adulterating wine with glycerol and other chemicals. That stuff would give you a headache, and maybe more. I suggest that your Mother stick to white wine from quality producers. I don't know much about Italian wines but I think that Italy has a wine control system something like what they have in France and Germany.
It's been a long time since someone has posted on this thread but I am going to revive it and hopefully get some ideas...
I have taken my mom to Italy twice now and each time she has gotten this weird reaction on her face. It has swelled up and it's hard to describe since it's not a typical swelling. It's almost like she is burned and it has a elephant-man look to the swelling... where her jowls jut out strangely. SO, all I can think of, since it's happened twice now, is she HAS to be allergic to something she is getting in Italy. We drink a LOT of wine in Italy (why not right?) and I was thinking it had something to do with the wine? This is an interesting thread that caught my eye when googling the effects of sulfites. Any experts here know of any allergies to wine outside the US? I'm sure we can all be allergic to any little thing and not really know it but wondered how plausible it would be that it had something to do with the wine? Ideas?
For a few years I was a wine consultant providing wine tastings at various trade and home shows. I heard of effects similar to those you describe. It was always from a woman and was always associated with red wine. They were no more specific than "red wine," which can be darn near anything and have stuff other than sulfites added to it. I wrote an essay on German wines which you may find of interest. See http://tinyurl.com/kx9t5je. There is a short mention of sulfites. They are everywhere but at the amounts present in wines I doubt that this chemical would have a noticeable effect on very many people. In years past Italian wine bottlers were caught adulterating wine with glycerol and other chemicals. That stuff would give you a headache, and maybe more. I suggest that your Mother stick to white wine from quality producers. I don't know much about Italian wines but I think that Italy has a wine control system something like what they have in France and Germany.
Aug 10th, 2013, 06:11 PM
#58
>>>SeaUrchin on Aug 10, 13 at 2:20pm
"To reduce your risk of cancer, drink red wine from Chile. Chilean cabernet sauvignon is 38 percent higher than French wine in flavonols, which are antioxidants that plunder cancer-causing free radicals."
"To reduce your risk of cancer, drink red wine from Chile. Chilean cabernet sauvignon is 38 percent higher than French wine in flavonols, which are antioxidants that plunder cancer-causing free radicals."
Aug 10th, 2013, 11:36 PM
#60
Just had an example of the differing effects from various regions.
At lunch, I had a glass of Chardonnay from a vineyard I didn't know, which was billed as being in the Margaret River ( Western Australia). After about 1/2 glass I began to feel as if I'd downed the whole bottle, with the begin ing of a "forehead headache". I asked the waitress to being me the bottle.
Sure enough, it was a Hunter Valley (NSW ) vineyard, whose whites have had this effect on me for as long as I can remember. There was a typo on the wine list.
I'm allergic to sulfur, know perfectly well it's used in wine production, but only Hunter Valley origin whites hit me. I can drink whites from any other Australian, and International region with impunity.
Can't speak about US wines, have only had reds
there.
At lunch, I had a glass of Chardonnay from a vineyard I didn't know, which was billed as being in the Margaret River ( Western Australia). After about 1/2 glass I began to feel as if I'd downed the whole bottle, with the begin ing of a "forehead headache". I asked the waitress to being me the bottle.
Sure enough, it was a Hunter Valley (NSW ) vineyard, whose whites have had this effect on me for as long as I can remember. There was a typo on the wine list.
I'm allergic to sulfur, know perfectly well it's used in wine production, but only Hunter Valley origin whites hit me. I can drink whites from any other Australian, and International region with impunity.
Can't speak about US wines, have only had reds
there.
