Vine and Dandy

You swirl it around; look into its deep, dark ruby hues; take a sip; swallow; and savor it: wine. It makes you feel good. But, is it good for you? "The data pretty clearly show that not drinking wine, as well as drinking too much wine, is bad for you," says Napa Valley physician and vintner Frank Mueller. But wine isn't just about health. As the wine critic Andre Simon said, "Wine makes every meal an occasion, every table more elegant, every day more civilized." What makes fermented grape juice so special?

Almost since the beginning of agriculture, humans have been allowing (and soon enough, encouraging) the fermentation of grapes, by which the yeast and mold native to grapes act on sugars in the crushed fruit and convert them into alcohol (and carbon dioxide). The earliest evidence of grape wine can be traced to Georgia, around 6000 B.C. The Greeks and Romans popularized wine culture and consumed wine as part of a healthy diet. European explorers and colonial Americans believed that wine could alleviate anything from a cold to typhoid. It wasn't until Prohibition (1920-33) that wine was transformed in American perception from a healthful and pleasurable beverage to something bad.

But as a country that consumed 893 million gallons of wine in 2014, we're well on the road to recovery.

The story of wine in America begins around the 16th century when French Huguenots landed in present-day Florida and fermented the juice of the native scuppernong grape. Later, the Pilgrims produced wines from northern grapevines and Spanish missionaries brought their native mission grape and cultivated it widely across California. Thomas Jefferson attempted to grow European varieties in Virginia and, although he was unsuccessful, his advocacy sparked a focus on cultivating French Bordeaux grape varieties (Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petite Verdot, Malbec, and Sauvignon Blanc). The California gold rush of 1849 brought an influx of Italian immigrants and widespread plantings of Italian grapes (Sangiovese).

But it wasn't until the 1960s and 1970s that American producers, still recovering from Prohibition, began overhauling their approach to vine cultivation and upgrading winery production. A watershed moment arrived in 1976, when in a blind tasting conducted in Paris, American wines outperformed some of the most famous French ones. Demand for New World wines soared overnight.

What is in a glass of wine that has pleased poets, revelers, and physicians for millennia, and even prompts some to spend hundreds of dollars a sip? The standard 750ml bottle of wine is mostly water, 12 percent alcohol, and 7 percent other naturally occurring compounds. Among them are polyphenols and other antioxidants, substances largely derived from the pigments in plants and increasingly proven to be biologically helpful to many body systems, including the heart and the brain.

Antioxidants help keep the body's arteries clear, reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke. They help prevent oxidation of circulating cholesterol and fats in the bloodstream by acting as a kind of barrier, explains Susan Ebeler, professor at UC Davis and author of Wine and Cancer. The result is less build-up of plaque on artery walls and less damage to blood vessels themselves. Although antioxidants are found in both red and white wines, there are heavier concentrations of them in reds, which are produced by fermentation of the pressed juice with the skin of the grape.

There's growing evidence that some antioxidants also play a role in cancer prevention. "DNA lesions are one mechanism for initiation of cancer—and these can include oxidative lesions," Ebeler points out. "Preventing oxidative reactions at the level of DNA may lower incidence of cancer." Some antioxidants, in concentrated form, are also under investigation as therapeutic agents for specific cancers.

Resveratrol is a well-known polyphenol with antioxidant activity found in the skin of grapes and in red wine. It is undergoing scientific scrutiny for its possible effects in extending life span as well as inhibiting cancer. However, Ebeler points out, it exists in wine in very low concentrations and is only one of an array of polyphenols that have manifold biological effects.

For all the direct health benefits of wine consumption, the pleasure is why most of us fill our glasses. And that, too, nourishes health. The alcohol component of wine acts on the central nervous system, dampening its activity. That's one reason why we love it. In moderate amounts, it loosens us up and relaxes us. Studies show that it reduces the risk of depression. Besides slowing down consumption of food and adding to its savoriness, uncorking a bottle usually marks a social experience, another boost to physical and mental health.

Of course, any positive effects of wine can be nullified by unhealthy habits. At the top of the list is smoking. Drinking high amounts of alcoholic beverages, Ebeler points out, can enhance the absorption and metabolism of some of the carcinogens in tobacco smoke. Moderate intake is generally considered 4-5 ounces per day for women and 8-10 ounces for men.

Unfortunately, wine in America has acquired an air of pretension, and the thousands of brands and varietals on the market can be intimidating. But even the most educated and respected oenophiles and winemakers have widely differing opinions about what makes a good wine and how a good wine should taste. If you like a wine, that is enough; no one can tell you it's not good.

Ian White is a writer and vintner based in St. Helena, California; Jonathan Cristaldi is a writer and educator for the Napa Valley Wine Academy and lives in Los Angeles.

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