Copper Head Aches

[Rebel Rose]

As an extension of the 'Wine 101: Sulfites' thread, let's have a brief discussion about the use of copper in wine.

As some of you may already know, copper sulfate is a handy remedy for hydrogen sulfide (rotten egg smell). What isn't widely known is that copper is also widely used to "bump up" the fruit in wines that are losing fruit character due to lazy racking, poor yeast performance, or other reductive factors.

When I was working for a larger winery (well, they're all larger than ours, but let's say 100,000+ cases) a lab worker came running out to me holding two glasses of wine. "Quick, smell these. Which one do you prefer?" I picked one and he scurried back to the lab. He came back a few minutes later. "Now which one is your favorite?" "Ooh, I really like this one," I said, holding the second glass. "Can I have a sip?" "NO! DON'T DRINK THAT! IT'S GOT COPPER IN IT!!!!"

Yikes. Apparently the lab samples had been hastily prepared for sniffing purposes alone. Copper sulfate, which comes in solution or little blue crystals, causes stuffiness, headaches, nausea, hypertension, palpitations, and shortness of breath.

It's not at all uncommon for a winery to add a little copper sulfate to slightly oxidized lots before bottling, to recover fresh fruit flavors and maybe to head off a potential H2S problem. This happens more often in large productions where it's inefficient to use actual copper to freshen the fruit. We prepare our bottling lots in small portable tanks, and if we have any doubt as to the fruit's brightness, we stir it with a simple four-foot copper rod, thereby aerating it and releasing a few copper ions at the same time.

While additions of copper to wine are less than 0.1 parts-per-million, the human body is very sensitive to minerals, and persons with a sensitivity would have a reaction. I personally get headaches every time from a certain well-known zin producer. Dover Dan does, too. Another lesser known yet excellent producer also gives us headaches. We attribute it to the overly enthusiastic use of copper and we avoid those producers.

[Jason Perlow]

Fascinating.

[CtznCane]

This is an interesting note I'd not been aware of. I guess I'm lucky (or perhaps not) in that I can tolerate some sulfites. The wines that I've particularly noticed them in and experienced the headache from are some of the Chilean wines. I'm sure this is sometihing different and one more thing to be aware of and perhaps ask about if visiting a winery.

[dlc]

Dover,

Have you ever seen anyone put a penny in a glass before. At a winery in the Rhone we were tasting barrel samples and an English wine merchant dropped a "copper" into his glass. When I asked about it he said it reduced the hydrogen sulfide smell. This was the first I knew of this.

[Rebel Rose]

No, I haven't seen that, but it makes sense. I have seen a winemaker trying to stir a barrel sample in a tiny INAO tasting glass with a 3/4", 4 foot copper stick. Talk about an exercise in delicacy. Next time he tries that I'll just say, "Why don't you just use a penny?"

[Smithy]

This is very, very interesting. Do you suppose copper compounds are the source of my headache? I just finished posting this question on the sulfites thread. If it's copper, how could I find out (before drinking) who was using it and in which wines? And by the way - if I done bad naming names in the other post, I hope someone will let me know.

[Rebel Rose]

My guess is copper, but it could be a number of things. There's a more complete reply on the Wine 101: Sulfites thread.

And don't worry about gullet gaffes . . . a forum host will guide you if you stray off the path. And after all, wine reviews here do include positive and negative notes!

[Smithy]

My guess is copper, but it could be a number of things.  There's a more complete reply on the Wine 101: Sulfites thread.

And don't worry about gullet gaffes . . . a forum host will guide you if you stray off the path.  And after all, wine reviews here do include positive and negative notes!

I think it would be relatively easy to test for copper. Hmm. Something to talk about with the lab!

Thanks for the reassurance about the gullet gaffes, too - every community is a bit different and I'm still trying to get a feel for when a forum host will say, quietly, "not here" vs. shouting "Outta the pool!" Not that I've seen any evidence of Trumpesque ogreism so far...

[SFJoe]

You have to use an old penny, though. Recent ones hardly have any copper at all.

[Smithy]

Wellp, I'm going to try pulling this back up to the top and see if I can get an answer.

Would someone please point me to a resource, if there is one, that will help me find out about the use of copper in particular wines, or by particular wineries? I'm not talking about a label that says "Warning: contains 3ppm copper", although a list that said "X particular wine, Y vintage, has relatively high copper and the next year had none" would be ideal. I'd be interested in relative information, even - frequency of use and whether a lot is dumped in or a penny is waved over the vat. Unless this is strictly insider information, there should be a place to find out. This is the first lead I've had on something that might (or might not) correlate to my headaches, and I'd like to pursue. Enquiring minds and all that -

I suppose, as an alternative, I can try dropping old pennies into a beloved and safe wine and see what happens. That would be an interesting taste test.

[Rebel Rose]

Would someone please point me to a resource, if there is one, that will help me find out about the use of copper in particular wines, or by particular wineries?

ETS Labs in Napa will run tests for copper for $20 per sample.

I spoke with the Lab Lady yesterday, and she cheerfully read from her Lab Bible some interesting info . . .

Lab Lady doesn't "do" copper because it involves metal analysis and atomic absorption. The machine that does the test is horrendously expensive. Lab Lady guesstimates $50,000.

But here's some additional interesting info that she gleefully read off:

The average content of American wine is less than .1 to .3 parts per million.

Copper is considered 'toxic' (to wine, she said, not to humans, but who knows?) at 9 ppm.

You can taste copper at 1 ppm.

The BATF maximum allowable copper level is .5 ppm.

The OIV (Office Internationale de la Vigne et du Vin, an international BATF with 45 member countries) allows up to 1 ppm.

Australia permits up to 5 ppm as 'acceptable.' (Although I don't know if they have to comply with the OIV level to export . . . )

Edited September 10, 2004 by DoverCanyon (log)

[Smithy]

ETS Labs in Napa will run tests for copper for $20 per sample.

I spoke with the Lab Lady yesterday, and she cheerfully read from her Lab Bible some interesting info . . .

<snip some good info on copper, since it's all just above>

Very interesting indeed! Thank you!