Received this today from a friend and would like some comments:

"Red for Your Lungs

If you are planning on having a little wine with your New Year's Eve dinner, grab the cabernet instead of the Chablis.
Red wine contains high amounts of a heart-healthy compound called resveratrol. This compound promotes not only heart health, but possibly lung health, as well, according to new research. However, remember to drink wine only in moderation -- no more than a glass per day for women or two per day for men."

Comes from the site of www.realage.com

I have a ton of pages on red wine and health here -

http://www.wineintro.com/basics/health/

that news has been around for quite a while. It was made famous in 1991 when 60 minutes did a show all about it, and caused a huge increase in red wine drinking.

Chilean Merlot has highed amount of resveratrol on average.

If you are going to follow that advice on glasses, make sure they are large ones

I'm not usually much of a wine drinker, and, if I'm going to have a glass, I prefer white to red (German white for preference).

However, I want to improve my health and I keep reading about the benefits of red wine ~ and resveratrol. I'm never too sure which one to drink, though ~ so I'm grateful for Peter's advice above on Chilean Merlot.

I have been reading up on the subject and it seems quite complicated.

Prof Gerry Potter: "Resveratrol is a defensive molecule against fungus in grapes and other crops, and is found at higher levels in those which have not been treated with man-made fungicides.
http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/news/pressreleases/2002/february/40684

Hara Estroff Marano: ".. grapes grown in cooler climates have the highest concentrations of resveratrol. Plants that have had to endure harsh environmental conditions like drought seem to have more resveratrol than those coddled in balmy climes.

"Cornell University researchers found that wines from New York state had the highest resveratrol concentration compared with wines from other regions. Pinot noir outdid cabernet and merlot, although .. the resveratrol content of any wine will vary from vintage to vintage and varietal to varietal depending on the weather and local growing conditions.

"Researchers found that red wines from regions with harsh growing conditions—such as Spain, Chile, Argentina and Australia—contain more resveratrol than wines produced where grapes are not highly stressed or dehydrated.
http://psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20030902-000008.html

"Resveratrol is a natural fungicide that is found only in certain types of grape species prone to fungus and that are grown in humid climates. Pinot Noir is a wine .. that is especially high in resveratrol, but a Pinot Noir from Chile may have very little resveratrol in it. .. It depends on the species of grape, the geographic origin of the grape and the processing methods.
http://www.europa47.org/anglais/pageanglais/Food_drink/french_paradox_effect.htm

'Resveratrol is a natural fungi in the grape skins that provides protection for the grape in cool and damp climate. '
http://www.4hoteliers.com/4hots_fshw.php?mwi=1231

'The French exhibit an astonishing 42% lower incidence of heart disease than Americans while consuming one of the highest fat diets on the planet.'
'It was shown that resveratrol content in ordinary French red wines is approximately 5 parts per million, while in Muscadine wine from North Carolina it is ten times greater - up to 50 parts per million. '
http://www.naturalelixir.com/wine.html

So,

I want a red wine where the grapes ...
~Have not have been treated with fungicide.
~Have been grown somewhere with a cool climate / a cool, damp climate / a humid climate / a harsh climate ~ preferably where there has been a drought.

Best wines for resveratrol are from ...
~New York.
~North Carolina?
~Spain, Chile, Argentina and Australia.

Pinot Noir is particularly good.
Pinot Noir is particularly good, unless it is from Chile.

The French are particularly healthy, compared to the Americans, because they drink red wine, yet some American red wines seems to be much healthier than French red wines.

And it depends on the vintage / local conditions / the year.

How am I to choose?
I am a complete novice, when it comes to choosing wine. I can't even tell a 'good' wine from a 'bad' wine.
How should I decide what to drink, in order to benefit my health, and what to leave on the shelf, because it will have no good effect? :rolleyes:

Aaah!

... I have now discovered that Muscadine grapes are different from the grapes we usually find in Europe.

Now I just need to find a good muscadine wine, which is available in the UK, but where I can be sure that the grapes have produced all that healthy resveratrol!

* * *

'America's First Grape: The Muscadine'
'They were as wild and untamed as the land they covered. In 1584 Sir Walter Raleigh described them as being "on the sand and on the green soil, on the hills as on the plains, as well as on every little shrub ... also climbing towards the tops of tall cedars ... in all the world the like abundance is not to be found." '
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/nov97/musc1197.htm

http://www.muscadine.com/
http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/muscadinegrape.html


From Wikipedia:
'Muscadines (Vitis rotundifolia) are a grapevine species native to the present-day southeastern United States that has been extensively cultivated since the 16th Century. They are well adapted to their native warm and humid climate; ...
The muscadine berries range from bronze to dark purple to black in color when ripe. ... Muscadines are not only eaten fresh, but also are used in making wine, juice, and jelly.

Although sharing the genus Vitis with the other grapevine species, muscadines belong to a separate subgenus ...'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscadine

Researchers at University of California at Davis have concluded that full-bodied dry red wines contain the highest levels of flavonoids and provide the greatest benefits. The number one wine for supplying the most flavonoids is Cabernet Sauvignon with Petit Syrah and Pinot Noir also ranking highly. Sweeter wines and white wines have less flavonoids and are less beneficial.

Kathy
http://www.cheers2wine.com

Thanks Kathy!
A bit more helpful info there!

I'm thinking mainly about resveratrol. Apparently, muscadine grapes contain lots ~ in all parts of the fruit ~ I don't know enough about this, but I'd like to try that wine, because it is supposed to have much more than traditional European wines.

Re other resveratrol-producing grapes, I read that if the grapes are treated with fungicide, then resveratrol isn't necessary, so there may not be very much at all in that wine.

I also read that grapes grown in damp conditions have a lot, but those in dry conditions don't, yet I then read other items that contradicted this. Nothing I have read seems conclusive, or to give a full explanation.

The University of California research on full-bodied dry red wines may well be right, as far as it goes, but it doesn't just seem to be a matter of the type of wine, but how & where it is grown, as well.

And then there is the muscadine wine, which I can't even find in the UK.

It's a puzzle!