Any Time Is a Good Time to Start Drinking Wine to Help the Heart, Study Suggests

Extracted from Wine Spectator On-line March 2008 by Jacob Gaffney

People in their mid-40s to mid-60s who decide to take up moderate drinking, even after a lifetime of abstention, are likely to have healthier hearts when compared to lifelong nondrinkers, according to a study in the March issue of the American Journal of Medicine. In addition, those who chose wine as their primary alcoholic beverage were less likely to experience cardiovascular troubles such as heart attack or coronary heart disease than beer or spirits drinkers.

According to the text of the study, previous research has shown a beneficial effect on heart function from moderate alcohol consumption, defined as one drink a day for women and two for men.

King's team found that those who began drinking moderately during the study were 38 percent less likely to have an observable heart-related health issue than those who reported lifetime non-drinking. Those who took up heavier drinking, by comparison, were 42 percent more likely to have cardiovascular troubles than abstainers.

When the scientists separated the results according to beverage preference, they found that for the 133 subjects who reported drinking primarily wine, their risk of suffering a cardiovascular event was 68 percent less than that of nondrinkers. Beer and spirits drinkers benefited as well, but showed only a 29 percent lower risk of experiencing a heart problem. King said that the additional observed cardiovascular benefit for those who begin drinking wine in middle age was "consistent with recent studies showing a slight advantage to wine drinkers."

So, you want a wine for Easter?

Try a nice rosé.

In the past rosé wines have gotten a bad rap as most people have only been exposed to inferior or sickly sweet rosé. But, a well-crafted, dry rosé can be a wine of beauty: crisp, complex, refreshing, with sprightly fruit, and often with charming spicy notes and good acid that is admirable. They pair well with poultry, fish, pork or ham, spicy Latin or Asian dishes, even lamb or venison.

Any of these would make an excellent choice:

• Luna di Luna Pink Merlot
• MARQUÉS DE CÁCERES Rioja Rosado
• Little Penguin White Shiraz
• Stone Hill Blush
• Toad Hollow Eye of Toad (one of my personal favorites!)
• Beringer White Merlot
• Beringer White Zinfandel
• Livingston Cellars Red Rosé
• Livingston Cellars White Zinfandel

Smoking Loon 2005 California Merlot

Rusty ruby color with slightly orange edges. Slightly herbal on the nose, but what is there is nicely fruited. Soft and smooth in the mouth, very true to type, with an interesting medium-length finish. Easy to drink. And it has a fun "whoop, whoop" stamped, synthetic cork. (Get it? "loon"? "whoop"?)

from the Don Sebastiani & Sons winery:

This Merlot is dark garnet in color and has aromas of fresh basil, blueberries, and Bing cherries. With good richness without being too heavy on the palate, the flavors of fresh cherry pie, sweet plum, and soft cinnamon spiked cranberry dressing finishing with notes of rich, vanilla French oak and delicate cherry and strawberry flavors.

This wine is packed with flavor yet still has a delicate body. This is a versatile wine that can be served with bruschetta over toasted French bread or cherry preserves over Brie served with water crackers as an appetizer. You could serve this wine with salmon over wild rice with toasted almonds, grilled chicken on top of a spinach salad with walnuts and dried cranberries, or thyme roasted pork chops over mashers.

Well, I can't say I would argue with the serving suggestions. It all sounds like it would mate really well.

Now, if someone will only show up and make me some bruschetta and French bread!

Bota Box 2005 Merlot

personal tasting notes: Delightful nose! Rich with dark berries and black plums. Oh, yum, yum. The taste yields a slightly lean, but still very fruity, wine; quite toasty with some distinct oak notes. I found the finish just a tiny bit less than totally smooth, but very interesting. A nice, tasty, economical wine.

from the Winery: This lovely 2005 Merlot has a soft nose of plum and dark berry fruits with oak and spice nuances. On the palate the wine remains true to our style with fruit forward flavors of cherry with a hint of vanilla and toasty notes. The finish is smooth and well-balanced making this Merlot supple and easy to drink. Try our Merlot with roast pork or hearty meat and pasta dishes.

And for the ecologically minded amongst us--

• Bota Box is printed on recycled paper containing 95% post-consumer fiber
• The box is 100% recyclable
• Print directly on Kraft paper which doesn't need to be bleached like white paper
• The paper layers are bonded together with cornstarch instead of glue
• All inks and coatings are soy based instead of petroleum based.

.........

AND an extra note--later in the week, I mixed this Merlot (about 35%) with some Black Box Shiraz (65%). Really quite good; very satisfying in all respects. The shiraz smoothes out the finish on the Merlot and the Merlot bumps up the fruit of the shiraz. A wonderful combination.