There was an article in my local paper this morning about how winemakers may soon be required to list ingredients and allergens on their labels - and, of course, why they don't want to! But here's what was news to me: I've always thought that wine was pretty reliably gluten-free (although possibly not casein-free, which is also an issue for me). But according to this article, wine that is aged in oak barrels may contain traces of wheat from paste that's used to make the barrels. EEEK!!!

I found the article online in case anyone is interested:

http://www.lcsun-news.com/food/ci_5893895


Jeanne

Yeah, Kendall-Jackson had told me that a few years ago when I was first looking into gluten free alcoholic beverages. They said that some, not all, of their barrels are sealed with a substance that may contain gluten. I have never had a gluten problem with wines and we have had Kendall Jackson on several occasions.

I sure do hope this goes into effect soon. I would like to see content labels on hard alcohols also. It would make knowing for sure if something was safe so much easier.

We drink Kendall Jackson every evening with dinner and have never had a problem with any of their wines..they are a great inexpensive every day wine....Chadonnay is our favorite!!

Having suffered for many years with the symptoms of beri beri (hello, U.S. medical community, are you listening? - Listen to this: for over ten years, you insisted that I had fibromyalgia, and you insisted that I had Lupus . . . exactly how much did all of those drugs help me, and exactly how much did all those drugs and multiple office visits every week help you? Disabled and desperate, I spent over a hundred thousand dollars U.S. supporting you and your beliefs -- so please pardon my attitude, especially since the first thing I told you, and kept telling you, and you kept insisting couldn't be, was that this was some type of nutritional problem) (sorry for the rant, - it took over 40 years since the doctor's comment that kids outgrow this to realize what caused my [previous!] disability, plus a couple years of doctors still insisting that it couldn't be diet related; I'm angry - you betcha - that was much of my life that they played with, and didn't care about; thankfully I finally have a doctor now that tells me it doesn't matter anymore where the ship landed, - the war starts here [Iwo Jima paraphrase]) - I finally accepted that for some reason, I just couldn't drink wine anymore, as one glass seemed to pull every bit of B vitamins and iron right out of me. This could explain why.

Locally, I'm politically knowledgeable, and while not a member of any political party, I'm well known by many in both parties in my local political arena. It disgusts me that our country, our government, and our political system would allow this to [already] occur for so long, and that they hold the key as to whether or not this is allowed to continue without disclosure makes me absolutely ill, and their lack of disclosure is making me ill. This may either be the beginning of my own personal revolt, or the beginning of my entry into the political arena in hopes of trying to change some of the blatent wrongs done for the benefit of the corporate and the wealthy. . . . again, so sorry for the rant, I am just sooo tired and frustrated.

So interesting that you mentioned wine having casein. I reacted to casein during an allergy scratch test, but never thought of wine until this afternoon....while getting my B12 shot, the nurse and were chatting about allergies and then we moved onto the subject of wine. She mentioned I should look into wine since some do contain casein!!! I thought she just must have been confused...do you have more info about casein in wine??

I've heard about it here, and it's actually mentioned in the article above. Apparently they use various things (I think some milk product and egg whites were mentioned) as "fining agents." I'm not sure exactly what that means, but I get the impression that they sort of strain the wine through these things to remove particulate matter, or something like that.

I'm not sure that I've ever really had a reaction to wine, and every now and then I just really WANT a glass, so I have one. But it's something to be aware of, especially for really sensitive folks.


Jeanne

You sound too honest and forthright to be a politician

Yup, wine can be clarified with casein, among other things. I'm sensitive to casein, and some wines give me a typical casein reaction. I've had good luck sticking with European wine countries, so Spanish, Italian and French wines for me.

Pauliina

Yes, fining agents remove particulates, like the yeast. Commonly used are casein, egg white, some part from fish (yum) and a type of clay. The proposal to have vintners list any of the common allergens would entail mentioning wheat (from the casks), milk, egg, and fish (from fining). Vegan wines do not use animal products for fining. I haven't found any list for folks who don't use wheat-based glues on casks.

I believe the vintners in particular don't want to have to list fish on their wines

red and white?
now that I think about it, I seem to have a sick feeling after reds more than white....

Do you mean do I react to reds or whites, or do I drink reds or whites from the above mentioned countries? I don't remember which I've reacted to more often, but I think both. I like to drink both, though it seems to go in periods, like recently I've been mostly buying Spanish reds. Yum.

Pauliina