Winemaker Terlato's headache advice

Looking to avoid a headache the next time you drink wine? Heed this advice from Bill Terlato: Drink a higher quality wine. I know, sounds like what you'd expect to hear from the president and chief executive officer of Illinois-based Terlato Wine Group and Terlato Wines International. But Terlato had some solid reasoning backing him up.

Speaking at a sold-out Chicago Gourmet wine seminar called "All Chardonnays are not created Equal," Terlato noted wine grapes naturally contain sulfites, which some blame for wine-induced headaches. "There are more sulfites in milk than there are in wine, unless more sulfites have been added,'' he said.

Winemakers add sulfites as a preservative to keep just-picked grapes from beginning to ferment before reaching the winery. This is important if grapes are picked over a large geographical area because the drive to the winery can be lengthy. Usually, it's cheaper wines with more generic appellations (think "California" instead of "Napa") that have this problem.

So, Terlato said to drink a higher quality wine from an estate or single vineyard. These grapes have a far shorter journey from vine to vat and thus no need for extra sulfites, he said. So, no headache -- unless, of course, you overindulge.

Other Terlato gems:

"Oaked" chardonnay may not be the fashion, but Terlato insisted oak barrel aging increases the wine's longevity. The oak should also add a dimension to the wine's taste and aroma but the wine should never taste "oaky." That's often a sign the winemaker is trying to hide a flaw in the wine, he said. "If a wine is not ready to drink when young it will never be ready to drink," Terlato said. "A young tannic wine will turn into an old tannic wine with no fruit. A wine not ready to drink is unbalanced." Terlato is not a fan of many California chardonnays (his family's eponymous brand is one of the exceptions) but he conceded these "powerfully flavored" whites do score points with influential wine journals. These wine impress at first, he said, "but peak very soon and die very quickly."