3.05.2008

Added Tannins

Alice Feiring, a great name in wine, has an interesting story from a week ago. I excerpt the relevant portion to my comments (emphasis mine):

I proposed that she might be allergic to added tannins--those nasty ones so common in modern wines. The tannins are added because some winemakers are obsessed with pumping up their color and believe this can do this or cure sunburnt grapes and also adjust mouthfeel. The tannins available are grape, oak and chestnut. This woman had some of those clients and drank mostly Californian and Australia wines. I ordered a bottle of Genetet Pansiot Gevrey and asked her to call me in the morning if her husband complained. I was the writer and she could blame me, so we ordered the wine.

There was no problem. She was really happy about the outcome. Red wine was hers again, (as long as she didn't have to drink her client's)


I'm allergic to nuts. They exacerbate my already existing eczema to a point where I can't function. As a result, I'm finding that there are many things I can't eat or drink, because of added nut oil, or other elements that we don't think of as coming from nuts.

Chestnuts are a particular evil for me, followed by walnuts and almonds. If I'm allergic to the proteins in nuts, will I be allergic to the tannins as well? Is there now an entire region of the grape world I cannot consume?

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