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eBook

Part 1: The Evolution

of Winemaking
Do you know whats really in a bottle of wine? Is wine healthy, or a health hazard? In this ebook
about wine, I will look at how wine has changed from its traditional form into a commercialized
product, go through the benefits and risks of wine consumption, and share how to find high-
quality wine. Part one will cover a brief history of wine and how wine has evolved into a
processed product, not unlike the other processed and refined foods we see today.

Is wine Paleo?
Although some speculate that our
Paleolithic ancestors did consume
wine in the form of fermented fruits,
the earliest evidence of wine
purposefully made from grapes is from
the Neolithic period. A drinking vessel
with tartaric acid, which only occurs in
large amounts naturally in grapes, was
found in an ancient village in Iran,
dating from 7,000 years ago. (1) From
the southern Caucasus region (which
includes modern-day Iran), winemaking Image by istock.com/SonerCdem
traveled to Palestine, Syria, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and then the Mediterranean. (2)

When Rome conquered Greece more than 2,000 years ago, winemaking was one aspect of
Greek culture adopted by the Romans. (3) Southern Europe, which contains regions once in the
former Roman empire, still consumes plenty of wine, usually with a meal.

In the 18th century, winemaking expanded to South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. (4)
Europeans brought wine to the Americas, first to Mexico and South America. In comparison to
this extensive history, the United States large-scale vineyards are practically infants, only
appearing around 200 years ago.

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What is in a bottle of wine?
Aside from water, a bottle of wine contains hundreds of substances, most of which fall into the
categories below.

Sugar. Glucose and fructose are the principal sugars found in grapes, which are
fermented into ethanol during winemaking. What isnt fermented is called residual sugar.

Wine yeasts. Naturally found on grapes, yeast is what ferments the grape sugars. Most
wines today, however, use added commercial yeast instead.

Ethanol. Yeasts ferment the sugars into ethanol, generally resulting in an alcohol content
of 10 to 13 percent, (2) but this number can be modified by temperature, certain added
yeast strains, and added sugar.

Phenols/polyphenols. Polyphenols aect the appearance, taste, mouth feel, and

fragrance of wine. Found in fruits, vegetables, coee, and tea, polyphenols are most likely
responsible for the positive health outcomes associated with moderate wine
consumption. They are present in the seeds, skin, and flesh of grapes but are also
increased through fermentation and oak aging.

Methanol. Methanol, a toxic substance, is found in wine in very low levels (0.10.2 g/L), (2)
but it also occurs naturally in other fruits, vegetables, and their juices.

Other alcohols, aldehydes, acids. Grape sugars are also metabolized into higher alcohols,
esters, and aldehydes, contributing to the overall complex nature of wine.

The stages of winemaking

To understand how wine has evolved over the millennia, an appreciation for the winemaking process
is a good place to start. The general steps involved in winemaking are (5):

Harvesting the grapes

Stemming and crushing the grapes
Maceration Time is given for phenolic components of grapes to be leached from the
skin, seeds, and stems into what is called the must
Fermentation Yeast converts sugar into carbon dioxide and ethanol
Draining Must is drained without being pressed into barrels
Thermovinification Wine may be heated at 5080C to improve red wine color
Clarification and stabilization This may involve filtration, centrifugation, flotation,
refrigeration, and/or pasteurization
Aging Wine is transferred to a wooden barrel or metal container
Bottling A dose of sulfite is usually added commercially to help preserve the wine

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Commercialization changed wine
Everyones heard of wines supposed
health benefits, but not all wine is
created equal. Traditionally, wine was
made with mashed grapes left to ferment
for an extended period of time, resulting
in a polyphenol-rich, relatively low-
alcohol-containing beverage. Few
additional ingredients were added and
intervention was minimal. Today,
picturing chemists in lab coats is a more
accurate portrayal of winemaking than a
casually dressed vineyard owner with an
oak barrel. Image by istock.com/luiginophoto

Modern processes have changed wine

production. Growing grapes closer together increases vine yields, but this overproduction delays
fruit maturity, retains excessive acidity, and is associated with reduced wine quality. (2) To grow
grapes in such close proximity, irrigation is almost always required. While this can double fruit
yield and increase fruit size, over-irrigation can result in lower sugar and increased grape acidity.
(2) Traditionally, a mild water stress following grape ripening actually improves grape quality.
Unfortunately, many of these traditional methods are lost in todays wine production.

WINE ADDITIVES AND CONTAMINANTS

Since wine went commercial, it has evolved into something so dierent from what it used to be
that our bodies no longer handle it well. Today, more than 70 additives are approved in
winemaking to increase production, ensure repeatable outcomes, and keep costs low. If you
have ever experienced headaches, asthma symptoms, or even diarrhea after enjoying a glass or
two of wine, it might actually be due to all that is added to wine rather than the wine itself.

Unlike everything else we eat and drink, nutrition labels and ingredients lists are not required for
wine in the United States. Instead of being regulated by the FDA, wine falls under the jurisdiction
of the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. As commercial winemakers strive to increase
production and lower costs, some questionable and harmful substances have found their way
into wine:

Oak chips and sawdust. Those oak notes discussed during wine tastings may not actually be
the result of oak-aged wine. Commercially, oak chips or sawdust might be used instead to give
that oak flavor without the added time of real oak barrel aging.

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Fining agents. To remove unwanted substances in wine before bottling, a variety of agents can
be used. Many animal-based ones, including egg white, fish bladder, and casein, might surprise
many wine-consuming vegans. Bentonite clay is the most common non-animal-based fining
agent.

Mega purple. Natural red wine isnt really supposed to darkly stain your teeth, gums, and
clothing. Mega purple, a super concentrated grape juice additive, is to blame. Ten thousand
gallons of this sugary concoction are added to 25 million bottles of wine per year. Mega purple,
along with another dye, ultra red, are used to produce wine of consistent color.

Sulfur dioxide. Although low levels of sulfites occur naturally in wine as a byproduct of yeast
metabolism, commercial winemakers often add sulfite in the form of sulfur dioxide as a
preservative and stabilizer. Because a small portion of the population is allergic to sulfites, a wine
label must disclose if the sulfite content is more than 10 parts per million (ppm). White wines
typically have more sulfites than red wines. Conventional wines can contain up to 350 ppm in the
United States, while organic winemakers limit sulfites to 100 ppm.

In addition to allergic reactions, sulfites are linked to asthma induction, dermatitis, hives,
abdominal pain, diarrhea, and hypotension. (6, 7, 8)

Histamines. Histamines are found naturally in many foods, including cheese, wine, seafood,
processed meats, fermented foods, and eggs. I have talked about histamine intolerance in a
previous post and how it is better understood as a component of mast cell activation syndrome.
Histamines are produced by immune cells and are responsible for the swelling and redness you
see if you get a bee sting. However, some people produce too much histamine and/or are not
able to break it down properly. Histamine overload results in sneezing, headache, diarrhea, skin
itchiness, and shortness of breath.

The histamine content of wine varies widely, depending on grapes used, ethanol content, sulfite
content, and more. (9, 10, 11) The commercialization of wine may have increased histamine
content. Fertilizing grape vines increases the histamine content of wines, (12) and organic wines
have lower levels of histamine. (13)

Commercial yeasts. Before 1974, all wines were fermented with their naturally occurring yeasts,
but most today in the United States are not. Winemakers instead opt for commercial yeasts to
better control the fermentation process for a more reproducible product. Many of these added
yeasts are genetically modified. Histamine-sensitive individuals may experience headaches after
wine fermented with commercial yeasts, as some bacterial cultures produce more histamine than
others. (14)

Sugar. In winemaking, yeasts ferment the sugar found naturally in grapes. Wine is dry when the
yeasts fully ferment all the sugar into alcohol. Winemakers sometimes will add additional sugar

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before fermentation to increase the alcohol content or flavor. Residual sugars in wine can be
masked by tannins and acidity, so you cant always tell by the taste of wine how much sugar is
present.

Pesticides/herbicides/fungicides. Just as in produce, organic wine exposes you to fewer

pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides. In a study of French wines, only 10 percent were free of
pesticide and fungicide traces. Vineyards are only 20 percent of produce volume in France but
use 80 percent of the nations fungicide. In the United States, Monsantos Roundup is the most
commonly used herbicide in vineyards. Some of these compounds are linked to cancer and can
disrupt hormone function, which I have covered in depth in articles on organic produce and
environmental toxins.

Arsenic. Looks like rice may not be the only food with arsenic concerns. The Environmental
Protection Agencys water standard for arsenic is less than 10 parts per billion (ppb). A few years
ago, a class action lawsuit was filed against several winemakers for having up to five times the
arsenic level acceptable for water in their wines. Included wines were varieties of Trader Joes
infamous Two-Buck Chuck and some types of Franzia. Although the lawsuit was dropped for a
couple of reasons, I would still steer clear of cheaply made wine.

Phthalates. Phthalates are endocrine disruptors linked to cancer and fertility issues. (15, 16) They
are common in cosmetics and plastics, but a study of French wines found dibutyl phthalate in
almost two-thirds of the wines tested. (17) Only 17 percent of the samples didnt contain one of
the three phthalates tested.

Mycotoxins. Mycotoxins are toxic substances produced by fungi and are linked to diabetes,
obesity, and kidney disease. (18) Unfortunately, mycotoxins are widespread in wine and in other
processed foods like grains. One study found a certain mycotoxin called fumonisin B(2) in 23
percent of wines tested from 13 countries. (19)

Thats quite an intimidating list! Can the health-boosting polyphenols in wine outweigh these
dangerous additives? In the next section, I will go through the health benefits and risks of wine
consumption to determine if drinking wine can actually be good for you.

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Part 2: The Health
Benefits and Risks
In the first section of this ebook, I discussed how additives and commercialization have
turned many wines into unhealthy processed foods. This section will explore whether traditional
wine is as healthy as countless headlines today report. Ill go through the beneficial components
of wine, and then I will summarize the literature to see if the benefits of wine consumption
outweigh the risks.

Polyphenols fight disease

Almost every positive health benefit from consuming wine is attributed to polyphenols, a class of
more than 8,000 compounds produced by plants. During winemaking, fermentation, oxygen
exposure, and oak barrel aging change the phenolic content of grapes, resulting in a more
complex product. (1)

Polyphenols are divided into flavonoids and non-flavonoids, based mostly on chemical structure.
Flavonoids include compounds such as catechins, epicatechins, proanthocyanidins, condensed
tannins, anthocyanins, and quercetin. In red wine, flavonoids account for more than 85 percent of the
phenolic content but less than 20 percent of the phenolic content in white wine. (2) The most talked
about non-flavonoid is resveratrol, but this category also includes phenolic alcohols and ellagitannins.

Polyphenols are good for our health for several reasons. First, as antioxidants, they reduce the
burden of oxidative stress, which is at the root of many diseases. (3) Second, they neutralize free
radicals, which are very unstable and damage body tissues through volatile chain reactions. (4)
Furthermore, polyphenols help our guts by increasing beneficial bacterial strains such as
Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria.

A large number of studies have looked at individual polyphenols in lab settings, in rodents, and
even in human clinical trials and show favorable outcomes for health issues from obesity and
insulin resistance to Alzheimers and schizophrenia. I could easily write a separate article for each
individual polyphenol. For example, resveratrol, found almost exclusively in red wine because it is
contained in grape skins, has been widely demonstrated in clinical trials to improve blood
pressure, insulin sensitivity, bone mineral density, cancer outcome, and more. (5, 6, 7, 8)

However, participants in resveratrol trials take up to 500 mg or more daily, which is too high to
obtain naturally in the diet. A glass of red wine contains approximately 200 mg of polyphenols,
(9) but of that only 015 mg is resveratrol. (10, 11) Therefore, you would need to drink more than
30 glasses of red wine daily to reach the resveratrol levels used in the clinical trials!

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Polyphenols interact with each other and
the gut
Although studying individual polyphenols does give us a general idea of their health benefits,
they arent in our diets in isolation. A mixture of polyphenol metaboliteswhich is more
equivalent to how we consume themhad a synergistic eect on antioxidant capacity, meaning
that the antioxidant activity of a mixture was greater than any one individually. (12) Other studies
have supported these results by showing that several red wine polyphenols mixed together had
dierent antioxidant and free radical scavenging potencies compared to individual compounds.
(13)

Furthermore, how polyphenols are absorbed and metabolized is highly individual. Low, medium,
and high metabolizers of wine polyphenols are well established (14) and may be attributed to
variations in intestinal microbiota. (15, 16) More than 90 percent of polyphenols pass through the
small intestine and reach the colon, where gut bacteria metabolize them into products that may be
more bioactive than their precursors. (17, 18) Polyphenols that make it to the liver undergo phase II
conjugation involving glutathione. (19)

Wine is alive with beneficial yeasts

All wines are alive with yeast. During spontaneous fermentation, 829 yeast strains were found in
biodynamic Spanish wines. (20) In traditional winemaking, cellars werent temperature controlled,
causing bacteria to naturally change with the seasons and aect taste. Aging wine often
increases yeast population up to hundreds-fold. (21)

Commercially produced wine today does not have nearly as many beneficial yeast strains as
natural, biodynamic wine. Most wine is fermented using commercial, often genetically modified
yeast strains. Furthermore, extreme filtration during processing decreases the overall yeast
content. In turn, this aects taste and most certainly impacts how our bodies and guts metabolize
wine.

Health benefits of wine consumption

Red wine contains more polyphenols than white wine (200 mg per glass vs. 30 mg per glass),
since red winemaking also includes the skin of grapes. Although many health benefits have been
shown for both types of wine, red wine has consistently proven more beneficial than other types
of alcohol.

Antioxidant/anti-inflammatory eects. Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory eects of wine

consumption, not just of individual polyphenols, are probably at the root of red wines health
benefits. Red wine consumption significantly increased total plasma antioxidant status in both

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younger and older people in a two-week crossover study. (22) Two glasses of red wine every day
for a week improved participants antioxidant enzyme expression and activity in blood. (23) In
healthy women, red wine decreased the levels of several inflammatory markers and cellular
adhesion molecules in another crossover study. (24)

Cardiovascular disease. Red wine was hypothesized as one reason for the French
Paradox, (25) the supposed contradiction of lower cardiovascular disease in France despite
higher saturated fat intake. (Read more about the dietheart myth here). But it seems that
drinking red wine does have heart benefits. Red wine has been shown to both raise HDL good
cholesterol (26, 27) and reduce oxidized LDL bad cholesterol. (28, 29, 30) In addition,
moderate red wine drinkers had lower blood pressure, although other studies have reported the
opposite. (31) After consuming Sicilian red wine for four weeks, inflammatory biomarkers of
atherosclerosis were lowered. (32) In a large prospective study, red wine drinkers had
significantly lower mortality from coronary heart disease than non-wine drinkers. (33)

Cognitive/brain. The brain consumes 15 to 20 percent of the bodys oxygen, despite its relatively
small size, which makes it highly susceptible to oxidative stress. (34) Several studies have shown
that moderate wine consumption, with its antioxidant properties, can have positive eects on
brain health. In a seven-year follow-up study, moderate wine drinkers performed better than
people who consumed other types of alcohol on cognitive tests. (35) In women, alcohol
abstainers actually scored lower on the tests than wine consumers! Brain function declined more
quickly in nondrinkers than in moderate drinkers from a review of studies spanning 19 countries.
(36) Prospective studies demonstrate lower risks of dementia, Alzheimers, and Parkinsons
disease in those who drink red wine regularly. (37, 38, 39, 40, 41)

Gut/microbiome. I have written before about the prebiotic eects of polyphenols, which extend
to wine. Two glasses of red wine per day increased levels of beneficial bacteria such as
Bifidobacterium and Enterococcus, compared to gin consumption, which showed no benefits.
(42) Bacteroides, another beneficial gut bacteria, were positively associated with red wine
consumption. (43) Natural wines that arent aggressively filtered or fermented with commercial
yeast strains contain their own probiotics, similar to what you find in fermented vegetables and
dairy products.

Cancer. Individually, polyphenols found in wine like resveratrol and anthocyanin demonstrate
anticancer activity by inhibiting cancer cell proliferation and inducing cancer cell death. (44, 45,
46) Polyphenol-rich wine may oer similar anticancer benefits. Compared to non-wine drinkers,
those who regularly consumed moderate amounts of wine had lower overall cancer mortality. (47)
In contrast to beer and liquor drinkers, wine consumers had a 40 percent lower risk for both
esophageal and gastric cancers, hinting again that there is something special about wine among
alcoholic beverages. (48)

Mortality rate. Wine consumption is linked to overall lower mortality. A large study of nearly

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25,000 people from 20 to 98 years old found that those who consumed moderate amounts of
wine had lower all-cause mortality compared to non-drinkers. (49) The Copenhagen City Heart
Study from Denmark followed more than 13,000 adults for 11 years and found that those who
drank three to five glasses of wine per day had a lower risk of dying than both spirit drinkers and
alcohol abstainers. (50)

Massive numbers of prospective studies and even some clinical trials demonstrate that
moderate wine consumption, especially red wine, has many health benefits, which extend
even beyond this list. Wine consumption has also been linked to lower stroke risk, (51) lower risk
of type 2 diabetes, (52) and lower incidence of bone fracture in the elderly. (53)

Health risks of wine consumption

Now for the bad news. Red wine isnt all rainbows and sunshine. Ethanol is a poison and poses
some serious health risks.

Glutathione depletion. If you have been following my work for some time, you will know that
glutathione is crucial for the detoxification of many harmful substances. Because it is required for
detoxing ethanol, alcohol consumption can deplete glutathione, making our bodies more
susceptible to toxic substances and disease. (54, 55)

Liver damage. When the liver detoxes ethanol, it is first broken down into acetaldehyde, an even
more harmful poison that can stick around if your detox capacity is impaired. If you drink too
much, your liver (and other body organs) will suer. Fatty liver disease, hepatitis, and, after long-
term heavy drinking, cirrhosis are all downstream eects of chronic alcohol use. (56)

Addiction. Not everyone who drinks will develop a bad habit, but alcohol can be very addictive.
Although less addicting that nicotine and crystal meth, alcohol is more addicting than heroin,
amphetamine, cocaine, and caeine.

Depression. Moderate drinking is linked to lower incidence of depression, but heavy drinking
increases the risk. (57, 58) Substance abuse in general is correlated with mental health problems. (59)

Gut disruption. Ethanol can further the symptoms of leaky gut. Alcohol damages the gut and
causes changes in the gut microbiome, increasing the absorption of pro-inflammatory
endotoxins. (60) The polyphenols in red wine may help to oset some of the pro-inflammatory
eects imparted by alcohol. Residual sugar, which is found only in very, very low doses in
biodynamic, natural wines, is detrimental to gut health. Sugar can feed candida and other
pathogens, leading to gut dysbiosis. (61)

Breast cancer. Earlier, I laid out the evidence for lower cancer incidence in those who drank red
wine regularly. However, even at low levels of consumption, alcohol consumption increases the
risk of breast cancer in a dose-dependent manner. (62)

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Myriad other health risks are attributed to or related to alcohol consumption. For example,
although drinking alcohol can increase HDL, the so-called good cholesterol, it simultaneously
increases triglyceride levels, which is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. (63)

Who should avoid alcohol

Now lets return to the question from the beginning of the article. Is wine healthy, or a health
hazard? The answer, I believe, is highly individual and depends on a variety of factors. Alcohol in
general, including red wine, may not be a good choice for some people.

Genetics can play a huge role. Alcoholism is a serious illness with a strong genetic component.
(64) If there is a history of alcohol abuse in your family, avoiding alcohol altogether is probably
the most prudent choice. Those with certain genetic polymorphisms in alcohol and aldehyde
dehydrogenases, common in people with East Asian ancestry, may also want to avoid alcohol.
These variants put them at higher risks of cancer, liver damage, and more because of their
inability to detox aldehyde proficiently. (65)

Sulfur-sensitive people, who are estimated to include 1 percent of the population, (66)
shouldnt be drinking wine due to the sulfites either added or contained naturally. One thing to
keep in mind is that dried fruits often have much higher levels of sulfites than wine. So, if you
tolerate dried fruit well but have trouble after drinking wine, it might actually not be due to the
sulfites.

Those who take any medications, prescription or not, should be cautious about any potential
interactions with alcohol. Some medications can enhance the eects of alcohol, some can cause
extreme drowsiness when combined with alcohol, and others can interfere with or change a
medications eectiveness.

This might be a no-brainer, but alcohol should be avoided when trying to conceive or while
pregnant. Some evidence shows that alcohol can negatively impact fertility, especially for males.
(67) The CDC states that no safe level of alcohol exists for pregnant women. Although
traditionally, French women still drink lightly during pregnancy, and some research has suggested
that light drinking may not be problematic for the fetus (68), I would play it safe here. A babys
body metabolizes alcohol much more slowly than an adults.

If you suer from asthma, have a blood disorder, or have liver or detoxification issues,
avoiding all alcohol is probably the best choice.

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How to maximize the benefits and minimize
the risks
If you arent a wine drinker, I see no real reason to start. Instead, eat a variety of richly colored
fruits and vegetables to get a wide mixture of polyphenols. Try to include other fermented foods,
like sauerkraut and kefir, into your diet. Cooking with red wine is also an option. The alcohol will
evaporate, but beneficial polyphenols will remain to an extent.

If you are a wine drinker, try taking it out of your diet for 30 days. Then, add back in natural,
organic wine at moderate levels to see how you feel. If your sleep and mood are unaected, then
moderate wine consumption is probably doing you more good than harm, in terms of health
benefits and enjoyment.

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Part 3: The Paleo Guide
to Wine
The first two sections of this ebook explored the health benefits of wine consumption but also
discussed how commercialized wine today often contains many not-so-healthy additives and
contaminants. If you want to enjoy a glass or two of wine guilt free, this section is your guide for
finding the healthiest, most Paleo wine.

Whats on a wine label

Lets start with the basics. Wine labels at first can seem intimidating, but here is a simple guide
adapted from Wine Folly to what information is usually on a label in the United States. Many
countries have their own requirements on what to include and how.

Wine producer or name. This is who made the wine.

Region. This refers to the region the grapes are from and can range from a general
geographic region to a specific location on a vineyard.
Variety or appellation. Variety is the type of grapes in the wine. Appellation is the country
or region where grapes in the wine were grown.
Vintage or non-vintage. Vintage is the year the grapes were harvested and not
necessarily the year the wine was bottled. Non-vintage wines combine grapes from
multiple years.
ABV. Alcohol by volume.
Estate wine. Estate wine was grown, produced, and bottled on the wine estate, a practice
that is rarer than you might think. In French, this reads as Mis en Bouteille au Chteau.
Reserve. Reserve wines could have received extra aging at the winery before being
released, but there arent really any rules about using this terminology.
Old vines or vielles vins. Wines from older vines may have a more concentrated flavor.
Contains sulfites. This text is required to alert those with sulfite allergies
and sensitivities.
Surgeon Generals warning. Wine sold in the United States is required to print this text to
inform the consumer about potential health problems with alcohol.

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Buzzwords explained: organic, biodynamic,
and natural
If you are striving to find truly natural wine, biodynamic or organic wines are the ideal option. Lets
talk about what each of these buzzwords means and how to identify them when shopping.

ORGANIC
USDA-certified organic foods must follow strict federal guidelines, including rules regarding soil
quality, absence of most synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, and limited or prohibited use of
additives. In the United States, a label that states Made from organic ingredients means that at
least 70 percent of the ingredients were organically produced. Printing just the word Organic
means that the percentage increases to 95. 100% Organic means what it saysthat 100
percent of the ingredients were produced organically.

In addition to lower pesticide residues and the absence of additives, organic food has a dierent
nutrient profile from conventional food. In a previous article, I summarized the results from two
widely cited studies that found organic produce to have higher micronutrient, polyphenol, and
flavonoid contents than conventional produce. (1, 2)

In winemaking, organic doesnt necessarily mean natural. After grapes are harvested, all bets
are o. Additives like clarifiers and factory-grown yeasts can still be used while legitimately
obtaining a USDA Organic seal of approval. A wine labeled as organic will definitely have some
advantages over most that arent labeled as such, but you wont know the whole story unless you
contact or visit the vineyard.

Another thing to note is that the organic certification process is pricey. Some small farms that
produce natural, great wine cant aord it. The organic label is a helpful starting point, but its not
always reliable on its own.

BIODYNAMIC
Biodynamic farms recognize the soil, animals, and crops as an integrated system. Focusing on
the health and maintenance of all three components, biodynamic farms will often incorporate
crop rotation, natural solutions for pest control, and strict adherence to processing techniques. A
true biodynamic wine will have sulfite levels below 100 ppm at bottling, will not have used GMO
commercial yeasts, and will have only used fining and clarifying agents from a short, approved
list. Adding commercial yeasts has been linked to higher histamine content in wine. (3)

Demeter is the organization that certifies biodynamic farms and products in more than 50
countries. Named after the Greek goddess of fertility, Demeter was established in 1924. In
France, instead of Demeter, Biodivin certifies biodynamic wines. Look for the certification label on
the bottle.

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Research comparing biodynamic to organic or conventional wine is still in its infancy. One
interesting study followed a vineyard that converted from organic to biodynamic practices. (4)
After two years of biodynamic practices, the polyphenol content of the Sangiovese was greater
than before the transition. Another study, however, found no dierences in polyphenol content
among conventional, organic, and biodynamic wines. (5)

Just as with organic certification, biodynamic certification isnt cheap. Although a vineyard may
strictly adhere to biodynamic practices, the wine may not yet be certified due to cost constraints.
Without intensive inquiry at the vineyards, in a local wine store you wouldnt be able to tell the
dierence between a wine that was produced in line with nine out of 10 Demeter standards and a
wine that follows none of them.

NATURAL
This term is thrown around a lot, but it isnt standardized. Some biodynamic or organic vineyards
may put natural on their label and really mean biodynamic or organic, but others could stick
it on just to increase sales when nothing about their winemaking is natural. The only way to truly
know is to call or visit the winery and ask a lot of questions.

Characteristics of biodynamic, organic wines

As I mentioned above, many wines might be organic and/or biodynamic (or at least most of the
way there), but the vineyards cannot aord the certification or cannot receive it for various
reasons. You wouldnt know without a lot of further research, and you could be missing out on
some great-quality wines. If the wine label doesnt have a Biodynamic or Organic certification but
you are able to inquire at the vineyard, below are some of the criteria I would look for:

Dry-farmed, never irrigated. Irrigation allows grapes to be grown closer together to

increase production, but the result is diluted flavor, increased sugar content, and artificially
high alcohol content. In California, using fracking water (waste water from oil and gas
drilling) is a big concern.

Low sugar, less than 1 g per liter. When sugars are fermented to completion, the resulting
wine is low in sugar.

Low sulfites, less than 75 ppm. And no sulfites added.

No pesticides/herbicides. No pesticides or herbicides used on the vine, after harvesting,

or during winemaking.

No chemical additives. The United States approves more than 70 additives for
winemaking, but you should look for wines with few or none of them.

No added coloring. Avoid Mega Purple and Ultra Red.

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 Mycotoxin- and mold-free, less than 2 ppb. The United States doesnt have clear
regulations for mycotoxin content, but international standards are below 2 ppb.

No sawdust or wood chips. Any oak notes should come from the barrel.

Low alcohol, 12.5 percent or less. When grapes arent irrigated and sugar isnt added to
the fermentation processes, wines are generally at around 12.5 percent or lower alcohol
by volume.

Fermented with native wild yeast found on grapes. This means no GMOs and no added
cultures.

Minimal filtering. Wine with minimal filtering may have some sediment, but this avoids
using some questionable clarifying and fining agents.

If you think this can get complicated, youre right. Its not always feasible to visit the wineries and
talk to the vineyard owners. If you want healthy wine but dont want to get into all the research,
you might want to do what I dotrust the experts.

Enter: Dry Farm Wines

Dry Farm Wines takes the commercialism out of wine and returns to traditional, natural
winemaking. They do the work for you by selecting wines from vineyards that adhere to all the
criteria listed above and are often biodynamic certified. Dry Farm Wines preferentially curates
wines from small family farms, which so far span 15 countries worldwide.

Historically wine has been like kryptonite for me. As much as I enjoy it, I always wake up feeling
worse the next morningeven after as little as a half a glass. This is particularly true with red wine.

I first encountered Dry Farm Wines at a party in San Francisco, after the UCSF Paleo Symposium
that I spoke at last March. After talking to a rep from the company about its wines, I decided to
throw caution to the wind and give it a try.

I noticed right away that something was dierent; it didnt have the same aftertaste as most wines
do, and both the red and white that I tried were smooth and delicious. But the biggest and most
welcome change was the next morning: I didnt wake up with the typical mild headache or
rundown feeling that always plagues me after I drink wine. My wife, who also tends to react to
wine, had exactly the same experience.

Im not sure what it isthe lower sulfite and sugar content, the absence of mycotoxins or mold, or
something else. Ive tried other organic/biodynamic wines, so I know it wasnt just that. Whatever
it is, Im happy to be able to enjoy the occasional glass of wine again.

chriskresser.com ! 16