Hospitality suites (summary)

[Dick Dunn]

This should really get shifted over to rec.food.drink, except that it's
already been beaten to death over there (more than once).

In article <11817 at s.ms.uky.edu>, david at ms.uky.edu (David Herron -- One of the vertebrae) writes:

> A good wine is important if you're serving wine, but there's something
> most people don't know.  Most of the wines in the world have lots of
> sulfites left in 'em by the vintner...

No, most wines have some (not lots) of sulfites...some of which are added
during winemaking, but wine has some amount of sulfite present as part of
the process.

>...Sulfites are used in the brewing
> process at the beginning to sterilize the wine...

Ack!  Please!  Wine is not brewed!

> to stop the fermentation.  They're very convenient because otherwise you
> have to boil the wine before fermentation...

Nonsense.  You don't boil wine, period.  That will kill it.

> Unfortunately some people, like my most recent girlfriend, are very
> sensitive to sulfites...

This is true; there are people who are quite sensitive.  It's a rare
problem, but that's small comfort to the people who are affected.  How-
ever, there are other places where you'll find sulfites aplenty.  Wines are
a problem to people with this problem, but they're not the only (nor even
the most serious) problem.  The reason for labeling wines is that you've
got a combination of sulfites present in sufficient concentration to be a
potential problem and a rabid teetotaler lobby which will do anything to
scare the hell out of people who might want to take a drink.

> Ever since then I've started paying attention to that
> 
> 	Contains Sulfites

With all due respect to the problem David mentions, almost all wines have
sulfites in sufficient quantity to require the label.  The "Contains
Sulfites" label is being phased in.  Given two wines, one with the warning
and one without, the probability is >95% that the one without the warning
was simply bottled/labeled long enough ago that it wasn't required to have
the warning.

My point is that the LACK of the "Contains Sulfites" label doesn't mean
shit to a tree.  If you want/need a low-sulfite wine, DO NOT assume that
the lack of warning will take care of it.  Check with the winery.

> It may not be something that stands out, but what if someone drinks
> wine at your H.S. without checking and gets a reaction?

So what?  What if you serve salad or tacos or some such, with lettuce, and
there's a sulfite compound on the lettuce--more likely to be a problem.

What is this, a scare tactic?  Is anyone who runs a H.S. supposed to run a
full allergy panel on everyone before serving anything?  Take the liability
games elsewhere, please.
-- 
Dick Dunn      UUCP: {ncar,nbires}!ico!rcd           (303)449-2870
   ...CAUTION:  I get mean when my blood-capsaicin level gets low.