what is the chemical substance common to both red wine and whisky, and which is not in white wine or beer?

Question

whatever that substance is, some people seem to be very sensitive/allergic to it. (only seriouse answers, please).

i wonder if it is the phenols. what are the details on them? is that what causes hangovers in people who only get hungover with red wine and whisky (but who can tolerate it in small amounts)?

Answer 1

Wines get their tannins from both the skins and the barrel. Reds get color from the skins which contain tannins but they also pick up wood tannins while aging in the barrel. So contrary to another answer barrels do provide tannins especially new barrels.
Whites do not get skin contact so they have little grape tannin and most do not see much aging so no wood tannin either. If they are aged in new wood then expect wood tannins.
Many wineries add tannins like chestnut tannins as well. A simple way to build lacking structure.
Reds contain more phenols than whites and you can find them in whisky too but its rare that these are a problem.

Suphites is a common assumption but the SO2 used in wine making quickly becomes SO3 after bottling, completely inert. If you can eat any dried fruit like raisins, pineapple, etc without an allergic reaction you can rule out any form of suphur. There is way more in dried fruit than any wine or spirit.

Wines contain lots of various protein chains too. Proteins are the source of allergies of all kinds. Could be any one of them.

Still I'd have to say wood tannin is the most likely culprit

Answer 2

Some people are allergic to tannins, however these are not from the oak barrels. They come from the grape skins. They are also present in white wines, to lesser extents. Tannins are also common in black teas. Basically, almost anything that you think of as being "bitter" has tannins, if its natural.

I think what you meant is Sulphites. Red wine has much more than white wine, and also more than beer. I'm not sure if Whisky has these in large enough quantities or not, but I know a few people allergic to sulphites. So much so that pasta sauce made with red wine would make them sick.

Answer 3

Tannins (sp?). Burgundy wines have tannins from the skins of the grapes, and from the oak barrels it's aged in. Whiskey is also aged in oak barrels (I just looked that up about tannins coming from the wood. I didn't know that before) however, some beer is also aged in oak barrels.

Answer 4

i'm allergic to the sulfites that that is all pink wines and a few White wines - so I ought to bypass with a white wine (with out the sulfites - the label shall we me understand) standard rule of direction is pink wine with meat and WHITE wine with Fish or Poltry and something is going with Pasta. i admire Yellowtail

Answer 5

tannins