There are many adults in our population, 1 in 100 in fact, who cannot enjoy drinking wine because of the sulfites contained in wine. Virtually all wines contain some sulfites. Even if the winemaker does not add sulfites, sulfites are produced naturally in the winemaking process. People who are allergic to sulfites and want to drink wine without getting sick will soon have a way to enjoy a glass of white, rosé, or red wine without fear of getting ill. With a few swirls of a small stirring stick, the wine drinker will be able to remove all sulfites from an 8oz or less glass of wine.
The sulfite remover is called StiQit. I received a StiQit press release and decided to call the company making it, YourBevCo. I spoke with Alan MacInnes, the CEO of the company and the man behind the development of this sure-to-be-popular wine sulfite removal device. If everything goes according to plan, in September the StiQit will be in wine shops, wine bars, winery tasting rooms, and in the home. Here is what Alan explained to me. The StiQit is a one-time use device. The plan is to sell them in packets with the initial cost to be about $1.25 for each StiQit. Each StiQit is wrapped individually, and once the consumer removes the wrapper it is ready to swirl in a glass of wine. A few stirs and presto, the sulfites are totally removed. The StiQit does nothing to affect the flavor of the wine. The StiQit has been thoroughly tested and all substances used in the StiQit are FDA approved. According to Alan, the hard part is getting the product to market. They have launched a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo (similar to Kickstarter) to raise funds to develop methods for volume production and packaging. In the works is also a plan to develop a process for removing sulfites from a 750ml wine bottle. That would be even more useful. Alan pointed out that the StiQit will not help those people who have adverse reactions to wine that are unrelated to sulfites. There are a number of wine drinkers who complain of headaches and nausea from wine, but these reactions may be triggered by substances in wine other than sulfites. It will certainly be interesting to follow the StiQit and see how well it will be adopted by the sulfite allergic folks.
If you are interested in the crowdfunding campain, see it on Indiegogo. We will be in touch with Alan MacInnes and will certainly be interested to see how widely the StiQit will be used.