Feel Good with Wine

Saturday, September 26, 2009
We all know that partaking in the odd tipple makes us feel good. Obviously prolonged excessive consumption is quite detrimental to one’s health. But there are a couple of health benefits which you may not know about.

In the 90’s, somebody smart saw the French indulging in high fat foods laden with cheese and thought, ‘why aren’t they all having heart attacks?’ They called this the “French paradox”.  It turned out a steady trickle of alcohol was the answer. Below is a list of studies & the health benefits discovered. Those conducting studies were quick to suggest cutting down on excessive alcohol consumption, but hesitant on suggesting commence drinking as a health boost.

The blood vessels

We’ve all heard that a glass of wine is good for the heart, but it seems the effects more to do with the blood vessels. A study of moderate drinking men (2-3 glasses/day) showed a 35% reduction of cardiovascular disease. Wine reduces the build up of smooth muscle cells within your arteries & reduces cholesterol levels, thus reducing risk of hardened arteries. It was also noted that moderate consumption has the greatest reductive effect. Abstainers & abusers both had the highest risk of cardiovascular disease. (Dubbed the “U” curve.).
Fewer kidney stones for wine drinking women.
Studies at Harvard University showed that increased fluid consumption decreased the risk of kidney stones. No surprises there really. But of the 17 different beverages tested (including water, tea, coffee, juice & milk) wine came out on top with a 59% reduction.

Stroke Risk

A Danish study compared non drinkers with those that said they drank monthly, weekly & daily. There was a 16%, 34% & 32% reduction in risk of stroke. Interestingly there was no reduction associated with beer & spirit drinkers.

Prolonged Life

An American survey has shown that moderate drinking prolongs the time until death from any cause by 3%.

Lung Cancer

Male wine drinkers have a lower risk of lung cancer than those who drink beer & spirits. At 2 wines a day, there is 56% less risk of lung cancer than those drinking other alcohol. It appears that the antioxidant qualities in wine offer a protective effect. Which is nice.

Moderate Drinking Reduces “Insulin Resistance”

A New York study shows, moderate drinkers are less likely to develop adult-onset diabetes. Abstainers & heavy drinkers were twice as likely to develop type 2 diabetes as moderate drinkers.

Reduce Dementia

There is a link between moderate drinking & maintaining mental capacity. While this may seem amusing to some, there is studies that show appropriate levels of alcohol stimulate the release of Acetylcholine. (A chemical that affects learning & memory.)

Prostate Cancer

While moderate drinking showed a direct effect in reducing the risk of prostate cancer in men, wine was also noted for it’s ability to keep cancer cells from proliferating.

Sounds good doesn’t it? Surely there’s a catch. Yes, moderation (2 glasses per day) is the key. And no you can’t save them all up for the weekend.

So let’s feel good about raising a glass to good health.

- Andrew Smith
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Local Produce

Saturday, September 26, 2009
Reading my newest wine magazine I was keen to find out who won the wine of the year trophy. To my surprise it was a chardonnay that was given the honour. Typically this award has been dominated by red wines. Then came a real twist, it was a Queensland wine grown right here on the Granite Belt.  I was blown away. Having never tried this particular wine I couldn’t comment whether I agree with the judge’s decision or not but nevertheless this is an outstanding step forward for the Queensland wine industry.

There is no doubt about it, the Queensland wine industry is definitely moving forward in leaps and bounds at the moment. Winemaker skill & knowledge are ever increasing as is the quality of the fruit grown in the vineyards. I remember reading an article by the president of the Queensland Wine Association that commented that Queensland wines will soon be comparable to the historic Margaret River region in Western Australia. Other wine writers have read the same article & shunned the idea claiming that Western Australia even has better surf than Queensland!  Regardless of who you listen to, the point is not that one wine region is better than another, rather they produce wines different in style. Certainly Cabernet Sauvignon from Coonawarra in South Australia will be different to that from the Granite Belt, but the point is we can appreciate wines from all regions.

Certain grape varieties grow better in our Queensland climate than others. At Veraison we stock Merlot & Verdelho particularly. However Veraison also has Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc & Pinot Gris. Barbera, Tempranillo & Sangiovese all grow very well in Queensland. These are Italian & Spanish varieties whose climate is similar to ours. If you enjoy these varieties why not take a look at the wine trail through the Granite Belt called “Strange Bird”. It tells of the lesser know varieties and which wineries to visit that have them. A link to this website can be found on our Veraison homepage  www.veraison.biz.  
- Andrew Smith
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Cork v’s Screwcap.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

With spring fast approaching it will soon be time to crack open some refreshing whites.  One thing is a given this coming season, you will be seeing less of the cork & more of the screwcap (Stelvin closure) on your favourite whites.

In the 90’s most wineries were still experimenting with stelvin. It was usually the cheaper end of the market that came with screwcap. You couldn’t blame the wineries for not putting them on their best wines, but it did create an aura of ‘cheap’. Now slowly but surely, we are seeing more premium products under this very useful tool. Is one better than the other though? Well it depends what you are looking for.

I have mixed feelings about this issue. Sure, having wines under screwcap saves me about 30 seconds per table at Veraison. But, call me ‘old school’ if you like, I love the sense of ceremony in pulling a cork. The need to get the cork screw in straight, the slight struggle to remove it, need to smell the wine making sure it’s not corked, the small taste to make sure the palate is still desirable. It is this theatre that adds to a dining experience! However, perhaps we should consider the winemakers view. There is no denying the longer aging potential of a wine that is sealed under screwcap & the freshness it maintains. Surely having your label perform better for over longer periods of time will increase your reputation. There is now no risk of having whole vintages & your ruined due to dodgy cork quality.

I was talking with somebody from the St. Hallett winery in the Barossa Valley about his riesling. Now that they are sealing this wine under screwcap, they do not need to wait for the riesling to lose all of the carbon dioxide (naturally occurring during fermentation) before bottling. Why is this important? Carbon dioxide is a natural preservative within the wine which means there is now an even longer shelf life as there is virtually no risk of oxidation. They couldn’t do this in the past as excess carbon dioxide gas would blow the cork out of the bottle. You may notice a slight hiss as you open your favourite white under screwcap. No the wine is not carbonated like a bottle of coke, rather this is the release of the naturally occurring carbon dioxide.

I was reading a series of articles last month about a 2005 sauvignon blanc that was sampled under cork 2 years ago. The wine writer then found the same vintage wine earlier this year under screwcap. After finding his notes on the wine under cork, he was surprised to find that even though it had been 2 years the wine under screwcap was found to be maintaining it’s crisp brightness a lot more balanced than the early release under cork. He rated the wine under stelvin a better wine than that under cork.

This proves to be an interesting experiment. Try to get your hands on exactly the same wine, one under stelvin, one under cork. This may take some hunting these days. Open them both at the same time & compare notes.  It seems that wines stored under cork tend to age faster than those under stelvin.

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