Vinography, August 16, 2007:
Most winemakers are looking for a very specific reaction to their wine -- somewhere between an "aaah" and a "wow!" Which is another way of saying that I'll bet most of them would want to avoid a reaction called Wine-Induced Anaphylaxis and Sensitization to Hymenoptera Venom. Unfortunately, this problem seems like it may be hard to avoid.You see, apparently some people in Spain have been admitted to the hospital with severe allergic reactions to wine, or so they thought. Instead of being allergic to wine, however, these folks seem to be having reactions to trace amounts of wasp venom contained in the wine or grape juice they drank.
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The problem here will be immediately apparent to anyone who's ever been around a winery crushpad in mid-harvest. For those who haven't seen such an operation let me paint a picture: huge bins of grapes being dumped into crusher-destemmers or into tanks, and above all the crushed fruit, a lot of sweaty, exhausted winery workers, and inevitably some swarming, dive-bombing yellow jackets, wasps, and other creatures who are out for a free lunch.
Labels: health/safety, production
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