Healthy Wines: What are the Healthiest Wines to Drink?
Leroy Creasy is a Pomology professor at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell in New York State. He studies the sciences involved with fruit and vegetables. For more than 15 years, Professor Creasy has been studying the presence of resveratrol in various types of juices and wines. This has helped him to identify some of the most healthy wines of which he has compiled a list of more than 100, made in 10 different regions throughout the world. These places included France, Italy, Slovenia, Argentina, Chile, South Africa, Australia, Canada, and different states in the US including California, Mississippi, New York State, Oregon and Washington State.
Creasy’s study showed that the wines made in the State of New York had the densest concentration of resveratrol. His study however did not take into account whether or not the drinks were organic. According to him, the most resveratrol content was found in Vinifera’s Fleur de Pinot Noir, which was four times more than the resveratrol content in any California wines. This may be because, the northern states, which are colder, facilitate the growth of bacteria and fungus, which are essential for resveratrol.
The following is a list produced by WineSpectator.com of the 5 healthiest wines:
. Mariran Rouge Charles de Batz 2004 is so rich in procyanidins, that it is a redish-purple in color and almost black. It has been credited 91/100 by WineSpectator and has been endorsed by the website LifeStyleWines.com.
. Madiran 2004 Domaine Moureou which contains 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc and 80% Tannat
. Fronton 2006 Chateau Montauriol Traditiona which is a soft tannins Fronton wine
. Cahors 2006 Cedrus AOC containing 10% Merlot with 90% Malbec
. Madiran 2004Ode d’Aydie
All of these are made in regions located in northern Europe where the climate is cold.
A few studies have been conducted in the past few decades on the health benefits of consuming wine. Although more conclusive studies are needed to establish the correlation between good health and wine consumption, the studies seem to indicate that moderate amounts of red wine decrease the risk of stroke, some types of cancer, coronary heart disease and other health problems. As suggested above, there seems to be a link between resveratrol and some of the healthiest wines made in the world. So it might be wise to choose wines that have a high concentration of resveratrol found in them. That way, when someone tries to confront you with your wine-addiction “problem”, you can easily point them to the resveratrol content of your grapes and the ensuing healthy goodness that it bestows upon you, which each giddy gulp!