Why Cheap Wine Sometimes Gives You Headaches?

Cheap wine gets blamed for a lot of things — bad mornings, questionable decisions, and occasionally the collapse of entire dinner parties.

But the headache itself usually comes down to a few simple factors.

First, alcohol. Many inexpensive wines are made to taste soft and fruity, which makes them extremely easy to drink quickly. The problem is that alcohol is still alcohol, and your body notices when you treat a bottle like a beverage instead of a project.

Second, sugar. Some cheaper wines contain a little residual sugar to make them taste rounder and more appealing. Sugar isn’t the villain here, but when combined with alcohol and dehydration, it can make the next morning feel like your brain is being gently scolded.

Then there’s the matter of congeners — natural byproducts created during fermentation. Darker wines and heavily processed wines can contain more of these compounds, which some people are more sensitive to than others.

Despite popular belief, sulfites are rarely the problem. They exist in nearly all wines and in many everyday foods, and the tiny amounts in wine usually aren’t enough to cause headaches. The real culprit is often much less dramatic: drinking quickly, drinking too much, and forgetting that water exists.

Which is tragic, because wine pairs beautifully with water and better decisions.