Dr Vino's wine blog

This just in: two wine and health news items! Up first, with a headline like “Cyanidin-3-rutinoside, a Natural Polyphenol Antioxidant, Selectively Kills Leukemic Cells by Induction of Oxidative Stress,” my eyes glaze over, even if it is yummy cyanidin under discussion. Cut to the Fredricksberg Lance-Star for the giddy synopsis:

AMAZING! It has been found that a pigmentation chemical that makes grape skins and wines red has been found to kill human leukemia and lymphoma cells cultured in a lab, according to research to be published May 4 in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. [Fredricksberg Lance-Star, Journal of Biological Chemistry; thanks, Ryan!]

Meanwhile, Down Under, item number two, not from university researchers. The summary:

Screwcap wine drinkers have been given a health warning by wine writer Keith Stewart, who says there may be a link between the seal and increasing rates of breast cancer…[and] warns that the polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC) seal used in the screwcaps is one of the endocrine disrupters identified by cancer researchers. [Marlborough Express; thanks, Jack!]

:rolleyes:

Related: “Resveratrol now promises cardiovascular sloth” [Dr. Vino]

Red wine beats the greenback
“Like chocolate was to the Aztecs, wine has become the ultimate currency,” said Daphne Derven, an independent scholar on food and wine based in Eugene, Ore. “It appears that the thieves, whoever they were, had more faith in the stability and accruing value of the ultimate bottle of wine than the American dollar.” The big wine heist in Silicon Valley [NYT]

Red wine makes greenbacks for entrepreneurs (almost)
In a cover story with a provocative headline, Fortune magazine profiles Sirtris, the biotech start-up that is trying to commercially develop resveratrol. The research into naturally occurring compound in red wine has been led by Dr. David Sinclair, red wine hater, at Harvard. It may hold the key for fighting diseases associated with aging. [Fortune]

IN: Yves Bénard
Yves Bénard, head of the Champagne division at LVMH and co-president of the regional Champagne body (CIVC), is likely to assume the presidency at the French wine regulatory body, INAO. Given that Champagne is one of the most commercially viable wine regions and Bénard is no stranger to brands, is he the man to lead the appellation system out of the morass they are in? [Decanter]

OUT: Michel Rolland
Two years after Michael Broadbent criticized their wine in the documentary Mondovino, the owners of Chateau Kirwan have dumped him. Begin the Rolland backlash? [Decanter.com--link mysteriously removed]

Wine for no greenbacks in NYC
Free, public tasting of 2005 Chateauneuf-du-Pape with importer Alain Junguenet, at Tribeca Grill on Feb. 3rd from 12:00-4:00. Six winemakers will be there pouring samples.

tags: wine | wine tasting | wine collecting

“I don’t care about red wine,” Dr. David Sinclair told the Boston Globe in a story that ran on Monday. Why should we care that he doesn’t care?

Sinclair, associate professor in Harvard Medical School’s Department of Pathology, is the lead researcher in the much-reported study about resveratrol and aging. He and his research team found that resveratrol extended life in yeast cells first, then tried it on mice. The mice not only lived longer but had lower incidence of diabetes.

Resveratrol is a naturally occurring component in red wine among other things. Lab mice were given the equivalent amount of resveratrol as a human would find in 300 glasses of wine.

So what’s up with the ‘tude, dude? Why denigrate red wine in it’s entirety? Where’s the respect for the French Paradox? Or intellectual curiosity? Or gastronomic adventure? He’s from Australia, after all. He may win a medal one day for his research on aging, but I doubt anyone is going to send him a case of shiraz with an attitude like that toward the fruits of the vine.

The 37 year old researcher is obsessed with mortality (if he wants to postpone death, what does he do with his equally inevitable tax payments?). “Aging is the worst thing that has ever been put upon humanity,” he told the Globe. Well, I guess he’ll be popping pills–not corks–til he’s old and crinkly. But he might just want to chill out from time to time, live that long life a bit, and have a glass of old vine grenache.

Related
“His research targets the aging process”, Boston Globe
Sinclair Lab, with pics of him and his research team
“Resveratrol now promises cardiovascular sloth” [Dr. V]
“BREAKING: resveratrol extends life and promises free gluttony” [Dr. V]

Two weeks ago a team of American researchers promised what the New York Times story called “guilt-free gluttony” through resveratrol, a component found in red wine.

Now, in a scientific detente, French researchers are doing them one better: cardiovascular-improving sloth. To wit:

“Resveratrol makes you look like a trained athlete without the training,” said Dr. Johan Auwerx of the Institute of Genetics and Molecular and Cellular Biology in Illkirch, France who led the study. [Read full story]

This is going to be serious competition for the ab toning belt.

We all know that red wine can cause pinot envy. So only four deadly sins to go! What will resveratrol create next? Humble pride? Gentle anger? Generous greed? Platonic lust?!?

Related:
“Lose weight on a red wine diet”–with video of lab mice! [Daily Telegraph]

Red wine and teeth, are they a good blend?

A new medical report published last week says no, confirming my fear that going to all those tastings can’t be doing my teeth any good. Roll the tape from Wines & Vines, a trade publication:

Dr. Sami Youakim, a consultant with Occupational Disease Services, WorkSafeBC (British Columbia’s worker compensation board), published a study of wine industry health hazards in the October edition of BC Medical Journal. In addition to well-known problems including musculoskeletal disorders, asthma caused by mite exposure, illnesses caused by exposure to pesticides and other chemicals, and confined-space risks, Youakim singled out the potential for dental erosions from frequent wine tasting by winemakers and other staff, noting that the pH of wines ranges from 3.2 to 3.8 and demineralization of enamel commences at a pH of less than 5.7.

Heh. A wine blogger’s occupational hazard! I’m calling OSHA!

But this finding from British Columbia clashes a previous finding from medical researchers in Quebec who found that a red wine rinse can prevent gum disease!

Canadian scientists believe the polyphenols can block production of free radical molecules, high levels of which can damage gum tissue.

Yikes, how confusing! Canada on Canada action! Sacrifice enamel or stimulate gums? The researchers will have a brush-off for supremacy.

tags: wine | teeth | Canada

Watch out wine lovers, we’re going to be getting some competition. Pills.

We’ve known for a long time about the health benefits of red wine. In fact, hardly a week goes by without some new health news.

Now researchers at Harvard and the National Institutes of Aging have found that reserveratrol, found in red wine, can in “very large doses” slow down aging. Moreover, it can offset many of the negative effects of a high fat diet including the onset of diabetes. Lab mice with the equivalent amount of resveratrol as found in 10 – 20 bottles a day for human consumption, fed the same diet as others fared much better in agility tests and health later in life.

“They had all the pleasures of gluttony but paid none of the price,” as this story in today’s NYT summarized.

Wow, fountain of youth. Free gluttony. This stuff should be illegal! (oh wait, it is for people under 21) So give up the calorie restricted ascetism. And don’t go for the pills, we know there’s only one way: cabernet for all!

Read the excellent story in the Times summarizing the study from today’s journal Nature by David Sinclair and Richard Hodes.

tags: wine | fountain of youth | gluttony