I am allergic to sulfides and was wondering what I could use instead of this for wine stabilization?
Copper.
That is joke.
A play on the misuse of the word sulfide.
I'm pretty sure you meant sulfite.
Fine line, but they are two different things. Sulfides create off aromas and flavors in wine; like hydrogen sulfide, the rotten egg smell, which is easily removed with judicious copper additions.
Sulfites are the 'salt' agents that help preserve wine and what you are claiming allergies to, which you should report to the gov as last time I looked, they have yet to document anyone who is allergic to sulfites. That's not to say that you don't react to them.
And to finally answer your question, you can make wine without sulfite additions. For the most part, they will not be as long lived as a sulfited wine, and likely show signs of oxidation within a few months of bottling. It's important to use very clean technique, but if you're making beer without any infections, making wine should not be a problem. Using CO2 blankets helps tremendously, including evacuating any lines (tubing or hoses) with CO2 before transfers or filtering.
So a couple points of focus for non-sulfited wines:
- Focus on keeping pH levels as low as possible.
- Jack up on tannins. Tannins are antioxidants that can scavenge the free radicals from the wine, much the same way they do in your bloodstream I've heard differing viewpoints on whether or not boxed tannins can be protective in wine like naturally derived tannins. Clark Smith has told me that they do not, and I have tended to use his methods for winemaking. So I suggest selecting grape varieties that are traditionally high in tannins: Cab Sav is king!
- Shoot for winestyle(s) that harbor oxidation: vintage ports and sherrys. The high alcohol in these fortified styles will forgo the need of sulfites additions and allow off dry wines to be stable biologically. They will still oxidize with time, especially with any barrel aging, but thats actually promoted with sherries and accepted with ports.
As summersoltice said, there will be some sulfite present in any wine from the fermentation, the amount depending on the yeast used. It's usually not enough to exist in the free form. But then again your body creates sulfites continuously.