Wine and Brimstone
what's up with mined sulfur in the natural wine world?
A controversial sulfur alternative has captured the attention of a certain sector of the wine world: the real stuff—yellow, odiferous, straight from the volcano. The beauty of using the volcanic stuff is that it is not petrochemical-derived, unlike what is conventionally used in winemaking.
In the early aughts, two adopters emerged in Bordeaux and the Loire. Back then, it was mostly the biodynamic folk who were game to give it a go. Biodynamics guru Nicolas Joly was introduced to the concept by late winemaker Stefano Bellotti. In experiments, Joly was impressed and turned it into a practice.
Philippe Gourdon, the retired vigneron and forever tinkerer, developed a machine that makes using the real stuff possible. His gadget is a kind of mini oxygen tank with a tiny chamber. The winemaker adds sulfur rock or powder to the chamber, turns on the oxygen, and lights a match above the chamber. The sulfur burns. Binds with oxygen. The conversion to sulfur dioxide commences, and the gas is transferred to the wine through a small hose.
