Ideal Bite

I haven't.

I always thought it was something in the air - some mad sweet magic that made it so that I could drink my first glass of wine at 11 am, and then have a few sips (glasses) with lunch, more for a late afternoon break, and finish up with a good amount with dinner, followed by a grappa or limoncello or amaro... And somehow, I can always wake up, refreshed and ready to go, early the next morning - a whole day of seeing and feasting and drinking and walking ahead of me.

But only in Europe.

Adrenaline and Sulfites

Truth is, my amazing tolerance during travel COULD be attributable to the adrenaline associated with jetlag and a change of pace. Or, it could simply be the lack of sulfites. See - when wine doesn't have to age terribly long, or travel long distances - when it is house wine, served in a litre carafe, poured from some stash in the back kitchen... they don't have to add sulfites. And sulfites - generally - cause at least a small amount of allergic reaction in most people that can manifest itself as headaches or stuffiness or nausea. Which sounds sort of like a hangover to me.

Organic Wines and Sulfites

So, lately I have been experimenting with the notion that if I drink wine without too much added sulfite, I MIGHT get to replicate my Italian lifestyle. And most organics - even if they have enough that they can't be labeled as organic - contain lower levels of sulfite (not to mention pesticides and other synthetic chemicals). If you want to give it a try with me (the organic-low-sulfite-drink-fest), go for any Italian red from Rosso Conero. The entire region is in a national forest, so the wines you get from there are - by default - organic. They might not be able to be labeled organic, but know that they are.

In the meantime, I am going to dream of my next trip to Italy, where you just request the house red (or it just shows up at your table), and you never know what you are drinking, and you never care, because it's the best thing imaginable - that indescribable magic floating in the air and in your glass.

-Heather... off to stay away from my stash of grappa...

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