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Celiac Alert: Is Your Wine Cross Contaminated With Gluten?

by mygfgirlfriend 17 Comment
wine

In an attempt to categorize which alcoholic beverages were celiac safe I emailed the major alcoholic beverage corporations. The response that I received from Constellation Brands shocked me.

 

Dear Laurie,
Thank you for taking the time to contact us at CONSTELLATION BRANDS Consumer Relations. We appreciate hearing from you.
Our main objective is to produce quality products that satisfy our customers. We are pleased that you find CONSTELLATION BRANDS enjoyable.
We purchase our barrels from many different cooperages. As a result, some of our barrels may have been sealed with wheat paste. Where one’s health is of a concern, we always recommend that you consult with your physician.
Customers like you are certainly a pleasure and we thank you for your support. We appreciate your business and look forward to serving you as a valued customer.
Sincerely,
[AGENT_NAME]
CONSTELLATION BRANDS
Reference # 490690-1998502313

 

What? I have always read and been told that out of all alcoholic beverages wine was safe. I now know the reason for my stomach upset, headaches, and strange occurrences of passing out before I finish my first glass. I have been ingesting gluten.

I emailed them again for further clarification as to which of their brands specifically were aged in barrels containing wheat paste. This was their response.

 

Dear Laurie,
Most of our white and red wines for many of our brands are either fermented and/or aged in oak barrels. There is one brand of wines, Simply Naked, that is produced without the use of oak barrels:
http://www.simplynakedwines.com/splash.html
These wines are deliciously fruit-forward and display the natural essence of the specific varietal.
Check the following retailers in your area:
Food Lion Store
6425 Iron Bridge Rd
Richmond, VA
804-271-9885
Martins Food Market
5201 Chippenham Crossing Ctr
Richmond, VA
Total Wine & More
10036 Robious Rd
Richmond, VA
804-323-5866
Please check with the store manager(s) to see if they can order the product for you from their distributor.
I hope this information is helpful.
Sincerely,
[AGENT_NAME]
CONSTELLATION BRANDS
Reference # 490690-1998502313

 

It IS nice to know that Constellation has a wine option still available to me, but I wish I had known of the gluten contaminated brands sooner.

The brands of wine made by the Constellation Group are:

Robert Mondavi
Ravens Wood
Clos Du Bois
Kim Crawford
Blackstone
Estancia
Inniskillin
Jackson-Triggs
Black Box
Franciscan Estate
Mark West
Ruffino
Simi
Alice White
Blufeld
Diseno
The Dreaming Tree
Drylands Marlborough
Hayman & Hill
The Hogue Cellars
Le Clos Jordanne
Manischewitz
Mendocino Vineyards
Monkey Bay
Mount Veeder Winery
Mouton Cadet
Naked Grape
Night Harvest
NK MIP Cellars
Nobilo
Ooh La La Wine’s New Style
Open
Osoyoos Larose
Paso Creek
The People’s Wine
Primal Roots
Red Guitar
HRM Rex Goliath
Rioja Vega
Robert Mondavi Private Selection
Sawmill Creek
Seeya Later
Sola Nero
Strut
Selaks premium Selection
Sumac Ridge Estate Winery
Thorny Rose
Toasted Head
Woodbridge By Robert Mondavi
Vaca Rio Vaca Vineyards
Vendage
Wild Horse Winery and Vineyards

Additional American Wines:
3 Blind Moose
Arbor Valley
Capri
Coastal Vintners
Cribari
Heritage Vineyards
Italian Swiss Colony
Kasser
La Terre
Nathanson Creek
Papio
Paul Masson
St. Regis
Talus Collection
Taylor California Cellars
Taylor
Twin Fin
Widmer

Specific to Australia:
Cliff 79
Emu Wine Company
Wallaroo Trail

Canadian Wines:
Antoine Bonet
Aufkellereien
Belini
Blackhorn
Bonne Vigne
Branvin
Brights
Caleta
California House
Capistro
Champs Elysees
Chapman
Cresta Blanca
Dalbray
Denoiret
Du Marchand
Entre Lacs
Foret Noire
Hermit
House Wines
Jouvenceau
L’Ambiance
L’Entre Cote
Le Villageois
Les Cigales
Les Truffes
London
Maple Leaf
Maria Christina
Nicolas Laloux
Nobella
Notre Vin Maison
Okanagan Vineyards
Pale Dry
President
Private Stock
Rossini
Sangrilla
Santa Isabella
Silver Leaf
Silverthorne
Simply
St. Georges
Toscano
Vin de Italie
Vittori
Wallaroo Trail
Westminster

Europe:
Da Luca*
MezzoMondo*

New Zealand:
Batch 22
Fall Harvest
Rose Tree Cottage
Station Road
The Jibe
White Cloud

South American:
Caballero
Escudo Rojo
Gran Tierra
Marcus James

 

I have emailed the company a third time explaining that I am wanting to get this information correct and clearly stated to the public as it is of concern to the health of celiacs and the gluten intolerant. I have waited a few days and gotten no response. I will update this post as soon as I get a reply.

 

mygfgirlfriend

Website:

17 comments

Renee Morales

“In an attempt to categorize which alcoholic beverages were celiac safe I emailed the major alcoholic beverage corporations. The response that I received from Constellation Brands shocked me.”

Wow – what did the other major alcoholic beverage corps say? Was the news any better or did they avoid the issue?

Reply
    lclark

    Renee, Thanks for the comment. Out of the 5 companies I emailed only Constellation Brands and Diageo responded. Diageo sent a general question of which of their beverages specifically I was inquiring about. I responded by saying I would like the gluten free status of all of their alcohols. They wrote me back asking again which specific alcohols I was inquiring about. I have not yet emailed them with a list of all of their brands and will post their responce when I do. As for the 3 companies that never responded I will be emailing them again when I return from vacation.

    Reply
Autism United

Well this post opens my eyes, I am in actually shock, jaw hanging open. Explains so much with my stomach issues. I typically make my own wine at our local wine shop and always enjoy with no issues. When we are out I have always stuck to the brands I have researched as being safe for my stomach tolerances, and usually blame the upset stomachs to the food preparations. Well I bet it has been the wine choices.
I am passing this on to my sister who has it even worse off than I do when it comes to being able to have a glass of wine with dinner when eating out.
Great post!

Reply
    acook

    Thanks. We were quite shocked to learn this information as well. We will update this post if/when we hear further information from Constellation Brands.

    Reply
      Barb

      I never get sick or get a headache from David Stone, sold at Wallgreens. I love the cab and merlot. It cost about $4.00 and friends love it until I tell them he price. Expensive wines like Malbek give me a raging headache.

      Reply
Amber Vesey

FINALLY! I KNEW IT! As you have stated, it has been told to me MANY times “drink wine it’s gluten free” yet every time I decide to indulge in a glass, for some reason my stomach begins to swell and bloat enormously, couple with cramps and then I have issues the next few days. I thought it couldn’t be the wine, must be something else, until I read a similar article stating that wine barrels can be sealed with wheat…and your post I just saw furthers my suspicions. Thank you for taking the time to post this, ALSO, I love your site! It seems a bit similar to my website I just created but I have more of a focus on fitness, and positive body image AS WELL as living with celiac disease/lactose intolerance. You’ve got some great recipes girl!

Reply
Jessica Sigurdson

Hi there,

So the long list that you wrote.. are these wines that CONTAIN gluten or are these wines that are gluten-free?? You said that Simply Naked wine is gluten free.. are there any others?

Reply
    Laurie Clark

    The list is of the brands that are aged in oak barrels. These barrels are often sealed with wheat paste that could contaminate the wine. The simply Naked wines use metal casks instead of the traditional oak barrels so they have no risk of cross contamination with wheat. I just did a quick google search for “unoaked wines” and came up with many results. All unoaked wines should be completely free of gluten and any cross contamination as well.

    Reply
Amy

I looked at Frey Vineyards’ website and they explain that many wines are “fined” using gluten, but they don’t, and use bentonite clay instead. So aging wine in oak barrels is not the only danger, but the fining process as well.

Reply
Stefanie

Thank you for sharing! I just got very sick suddenly after one big gulp of Robert Mondavi Merlot. I couldn’t figure out why and thought it was a fluke and I kept drinking and it only got worse till I suddenly got hot and I almost passed out! I did some research and came across your blog! Thank you! Thank you for the list! I thought wine was safe! Not true! We have to check EVERYTHING!

Reply
angie liskey

I’m thankful for this article and REALLY PISSED about the wine. Seriously. Do you have any updated information?

Reply
Janet

Wow. I had a small glass of Naked Grape Merlot last night, and could not figure out why I feel so horrible. This explains it. Wouldn’t the world be so much easier if people took food allergies and celiac disease seriously and just labeled their products?

Reply
Karri

I just tried the Naked Grape Red Blend last night and could not figure out why I felt like I had been glutened today. Thank you so much for this information! This definitely needs to be shared with the Celiac Community.

Reply
Karen

I recently discovered that I am gluten intolerant and am ona massive learning curve. Today I was enjoying a glass of red wine when I started to cough and felt the post nasal drip start again. I suspected the wine and did a quick Google search. Another thing to put on my naughty list. As I. Live in South Africa my access to gluten-free products is rather limited. Do you know of any South African wines that are gluten free?
Regards
Karen

Reply
Leann

Yeah the cross contamination from wine is real my friends. For a long time I was noticing that when I drink wine in the evening, I often wake up the next morning feeling sick. When I have a good, clearly labeled brand of gluten-free beer in the evening, (gluten-FREE, not gluten-removed!), I NEVER wake up sick, I wake up feeling great! And I don’t drink a lot. Two small glasses of wine = often sick in the morning. Two gluten free beers = never sick. I just wish I could find a wine that is actually labeled “gluten-free”; I don’t trust them any more if they’re not!!! If anyone sees this post and can follow up and advise me of a brand of wine that is actually labeled “gluten-free”, I’d really appreciate it! 🙂

Reply
Erika

I wish I saw this post earlier. I drank this brand of wine and I have been up sick all night because of it.

Reply

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