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My post on wine was unlikely to attract many responses but those that
did reach me were mostly appreciative - thank you. Three replies however
deserve note:

From Margaret Pratt on whether the lactic acid in wine may affect
celiacs: reassuring reply to the list on 01.09.97. It has nothing to do
with lactose.

One poster mentioned headaches and nausea after drinking cheap wine.

This may be more the result of vinegar in the wine than a celiac
response. Although some very good wines are not covered by a guarantee
of origin, most cheap wine is cheap because it does not meet the
standard required by the regulating committees concerned. One of the
most important standards is the amount of ^Ñvolatiles', i.e. vinegar,
naturally present in the wine. There is a simple way to test for this:
fill a glass to about a third or half, swill it around vigorously until
you see a small vortex, while the wine is still spinning round, put your
nose to it and if you can perceive the smell of vinegar don´t drink it.

Incidentally, sweet wine may also give you headaches.

One poster remains skeptical because of a film in which the hero adds
different things to his wine. She is undoubtedly right in that the
innexperienced or the unscrupulous may do this sort of thing and that
whenever possible the winemaker should be consulted. I have visited many
cellars and even followed the whole process through over several months
and have never seen, or heard of, anything except sulphite added. But I
repeat, wine itself is GF and your best guarantee is the guarrantee of
origin.

Finally a point regarding the pleasure of wine that I omitted - the
temperature it should be served at:
dry white and sparkling wine: 6 - 10 degrees centigrade
young red wine: 14 - 18 degrees centigrade
aged reds: room temperature

For those interested, I suggest these two web pages (I have no financial
interest in wine):
http://www.torres.es
http://www.filewine.es

Happy drinking!
Martin Harris Palmer, Canary Islands