Wine headaches.  Particularly red wine headaches.  We hear about them all the time in the tasting room at Wyandotte, and there has been plenty written about the problem.  People come in all the time and say, “I never drink red wine, it gives me a terrible headache.”  Understand I am not talking about the morning headache that comes after drinking several bottles of wine the night before.  We know the cause of that.  It is a well known syndrome called “the hangover”.  I am talking about the headache that comes after a single glass, sometimes a single drink.

There is no doubt red wine can give some people headaches.  Sometimes it can happen very quickly, and can really hurt.  I have done a little research on the subject and here is what I found.

People tend to start by blaming sulfites.  Sulfite is usually added in very small amounts to wine during winemaking to prevent oxidation and spoilage from bacteria.  There are several reasons that I doubt the theory that sulfites cause wine headaches.  Most people get headaches from red wine only, not white.  Sulfites are not specific to red wines.  They are in all wines, even white wines.  The fermentation process creates sulfites at a low level, so every wine has some sulfite even if the winery does not add it (and most do).  If sulfites were the cause, all wine would cause headaches, not just reds.  Some people also think that it is a sulfite allergy that causes the headaches.  It is true that some people are sensitive to sulfites, but it is less than 1% of the population.  Besides sulfite sensitivity usually is associated with breathing problems, not headaches.

The next suspect in red wine headaches is usually tannins.  Tannins are flavonoids that cause that dry mouth feeling after you swallow a wine, and are usually associated with red wines, not white.  That fits with only red wines causing the headaches, but there are other foods like tea, soy, and chocolate that contain tannins, so why don’t those cause headaches?  That would indicate that tannins are really not the problem.

The next school of thought is that histamines cause headaches.  It is true that there are usually more histamines in red wine than in white, and some people are sensitive to them.  There are several scientific studies that have been done that show no real connection between histamine content in wine and wine headaches.

Unfortunately it seems for every theory for what causes red wine headaches there is some study or reason that disproves it.  So what the heck is a wine lover to do?

Some people suggest taking an antihistamine like Claritin or Sudafed to help avoid a headache caused by histamines in wine.  That seems to work for some people.  Take the antihistamine and then drink a half a glass of red and see if you are OK.  If so, then you may have found your solution.

If taking an antihistamine does not work, than there is some indication that it is not ALL red wines that cause a headache.  Sometimes red wine from California may cause a problem, but wine from France is fine, or vise-versa.  Sometimes certain grapes will cause a problem, others will not.  If you really want to be able to drink red wines, try a half glass of a type or brand of wine and see what happens.  If you don’t have a headache after ½ hour or so, drink a couple of glasses and see if you are still OK.  Keep a journal so you can keep track of what happens.  You may find that there are some red wines that are OK and some that are not.

If none of that works, or it is just not that important to you, than you may just have to stick with the white and fruit wine family.  That is not too much of a sacrifice, there are plenty of those wines available that are really good. 

If you end up experimenting and trying different reds to see the effect let me know how it goes.  I will be interested in the results.