The crystalline element (S = sulphur, meaning "slow-burning") with its typical sulphur-yellow colour is essential for all organisms. Like nitrogen, it is an important building block of amino acids, proteins and enzymes. If there is a deficiency in the human, animal and plant organism, protein metabolism is disturbed. Its effect as a preservative in wine was already known to the Greeks and Romans in ancient times and is mentioned by Homer (8th century BC), Cato the Elder (234-149 BC) and Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD), among others.
Until the 17th century, sulphurisation was considered an "arcanum" (secret). It was a secret science known only to the initiated and not open to the public. After repeated over-sulphurisation, the addition of sulphur to wine was briefly banned in some countries for health reasons and offenders were severely punished.
Imperial decree
A milestone in European wine history was the authorisation of the Roman-German Emperor Maximilian I (1459-1519) to sulphurise wine. This decree was promulgated in 1487 and the exact quantities were laid down in law ten years later. One litre of sulphur was allowed to be used for one barrel of wine. Today, it is no longer possible to determine how much this actually was due to the fact that the units of measurement can no longer be precisely verified (various sources mention 40 mg/l). From this point onwards, sulphur was regularly used in winemaking in many wine-growing regions. This involved soaking wood shavings with a mixture of powdered sulphur, herbs and incense and burning the whole thing in an empty wine barrel (shortly before bottling the wine). In France, however, the use of sulphur in winemaking was not authorised until the 18th century.
Use of sulphur
Sulphur is already used during the grape harvest and in the various stages of winemaking up to bottling. The amount required also depends on the grape variety, the time of...
