Sugar Creek Winery LLC in Ferryville, WI run by Paul Franzen, 48, specializes in the production of sulfite-free wine. Sulfite, a sulfur-based antibacterial compound that occurs naturally in the process of making wine and beer, is harmless in small amounts but when extra sulfite is added to food and liquor it may cause a myriad of unpleasant to potentially dangerous symptoms.

Franzen’s father started making sulfite-free wine in 1959 and Franzen started to help make the wine when he was two years old. He always hoped that one day when he was older he would have his own winery, and he retired early from his career as a tool and dye maker to take over the family business.

Most store-bought beer and wine, especially the sweeter wines, contain a lot of excess sulfite that is added to help preserve it. Unfortunately, Franzen said, companies that make wine often times add the sulfites at the wrong part of the fermentation process, capturing a flavor that might be less than optimal, not to mention making it a no-go for anyone with sensitivity to sulfites.

One out of 100 people have sensitivities to sulfite according to an estimate from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), that’s the same amount of people that are estimated to have celiac disease (the genetic autoimmune disease that creates gluten intolerance). Sulfite is put into many foods like store-bought fruit and vegetable juices, canned soup, and pickled food. Added sulfite causes symptoms that range from rosy cheeks and the ever-infamous red wine headache to irregular heartbeat, low blood pressure and the potential for anaphylactic shock (rare, but not unheard of).

Franzen’s wines contain no more than 2 ppm (parts per million) of sulfite, which means that it is safe for people who are sensitive or allergic to sulfite.

Sugar Creek Winery offers a good variety of flavors that range from the standard Strawberry and CranApple to quirkier flavors such as Edelweiss and Bigsmile Fruit Blend, all for a moderate price (retail price ranges from $13.19 to $15.99 per bottle). Their wine has also won two awards from Between the Bluffs in LaCrosse and the Wisconsin State Fair. While Franzen is enjoying himself immensely (he said he feels as if he’s still 23 years old), he has no plans of slowing down. He recently purchased an additional 17 acres of land one mile away from his current winery on which he plans to start building a bigger and better brewery and winery in the next few years.

Franzen’s sulfite-free wines are available locally at Woodman’s, Hyvee and Prim Meats in Spring Green and they are looking to expand further. If you would like to visit the winery it is open to the public by appointment. For more information or to have bottles shipped to you, their website is sugarcreekwine.com