Is wine gluten free?

[jmar55]

I am confident that the fruit is gluten free but what about the yeast and other additives?

 

[oppyland]

My wife suffers from Celiac and has to be very careful about what she eats and drinks. She has never had any issue with wine. As far as I know, none of the additives I have used contain gluten.

 

[sour_grapes]

You might ask yourself what gluten is. That may reveal the answer to your question.

 

[Trevor7]

I bought a bottle of Fermax Yeast Nutrient recently that had "Contains Soy and Wheat" under the allergens notice. This could affect those with Celiac.

 

[BernardSmith]

Yeast could be cultured by a lab in a gluten environment (grown in a wort). But any yeast that is listed as "kosher" and especially if listed as "Kosher for Passover" cannot be cultured in such an environment so it would almost certainly need to be gluten free.

 

[balatonwine]

It depends.

Wine, in of itself, based on pressed juice and fermentation, is of course gluten free. Always.

But how wine is processed can alter that. As can "regulations" that may define what "gluten free" means for legal and marketing reasons.

For example, to the FDA, a wine with less than 20 PPM of gluten can be called "gluten free". But some hyper sensitive people can be affected by gluten below that threshold. Thus "labels" are more often a marketing strategy rather than a heath warning. Be aware of that. See, for example:

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/is-wine-gluten-free

To be sure, you have to know, and trust, your winery. All else is just a question mark.

 

[Rice_Guy]

I am confident that the fruit is gluten free but what about the yeast and other additives?

Gluten is a saline soluble protein which is found in wheat and barley, gluten is not found in other cereal grains as corn and rice. By itself gluten is not very soluble in water and will tend to precipitate in alcoholic solutions (create a haze at low level)
It is unlikely that gluten exists in any chemical based ingredients. It is unlikely that gluten would contaminate the organics as tannin or sugar or chitosan.
Yeast can be cultured in a completely synthetic system. The end fermentation for wine yeast normally does not involve wheat or barley (beer ingredients) but suppliers as red star also produce beer yeast. Conclusion: the tech line of the specific yeast brand would be the only place to ask this question.
If you look at a yeast specification, it will list normal maximum contaminant level,,, which is bacteria

 

[Ignoble Grape]

It depends.

Wine, in of itself, based on pressed juice and fermentation, is of course gluten free. Always.

But how wine is processed can alter that. As can "regulations" that may define what "gluten free" means for legal and marketing reasons.

For example, to the FDA, a wine with less than 20 PPM of gluten can be called "gluten free". But some hyper sensitive people can be affected by gluten below that threshold. Thus "labels" are more often a marketing strategy rather than a heath warning. Be aware of that. See, for example:

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/is-wine-gluten-free

To be sure, you have to know, and trust, your winery. All else is just a question mark.

Interesting link. I have celiac. It's one of the reasons I've gotten into wine. I've never heard of fining with gluten - and my other hobby is antique cookbooks, so I've read a ton of off-the-wall winemaking recipes. Does anyone do this? It just seems like there are better alternatives.

Also interesting about sealing wine barrels with wheat paste. Now I'm going to ask all the local wineries that question...