Today's Wine, June 26, 2010

Sulfites play an important preservative role in most wines, and are naturally occurring on grapes.  However, some winemakers add more sulfites to their wines, and some people have allergies or get headaches from the exposure to the compound.  Thus, there are some "organic" wines on the market that are sulfite free.  This one is called "Our Daily Red" and is also notable for being low-cost; under $9 at many retail outlets.  That's certainly cheap enough for a daily drinker, and it's not bad wine at all.  I have noticed there is some variation from year to year, with the 2007 being very good and the 2008 less so.  This is not a verietal wine, so the difference may be due to the grapes used from year to year.  The 2007 tastes more like merlot, and the 2008 like grenache...it has less body.  But all the vintages I've tried have been well made, and are definitely bargains whether you have a problem with sulfites or not.