Despite the mechanisms involved in wine oxidation have been
extensively reviewed the protection of wine against oxidative
spoilage remains one of the main goals of modern winemaking,
becoming particularly critical when low levels of sulphur
dioxide are used. The chemistry of this additive in wine has been
recently re-written they clearly demonstrated that
SO2 does not react directly with oxygen, as previously thought
but, in
presence of metal ions, it is able to scavenge hydrogen peroxide
and the quinones formed from the oxidation of polyphenols