To Your Health
Wine aficionados adopted the 100-point scale rating wine for taste, but a new publication applies the same scale to rank wine’s healthful characteristics. Each quarter, Truth in Wine sends thirty wines to an independent laboratory for content analysis. Its premier issue focused on popular grocery store wines, analyzing samples for components including calories, sugars, carbohydrates, minerals, alcohol, and antioxidants such as polyphenols and resveratrol.
Among its findings: wines with higher alcohol had the least carbs; white wines contained more sulfites; and overall the red wines tested had more antioxidants and minerals. Lower-sugar wines earned higher overall rankings; Columbia Crest Merlot/Cabernet and Woodbridge Chardonnay topped the list with 90-point rankings. Surprisingly, every wine tested significantly overstated alcohol content. (While thirty wines is a small sample, time will tell if the first issue’s findings merit broader conclusions.) As news continues to unfold about the health benefits of wine, the newsletter provides a way for health-conscious wine-lovers to make more informed choices in buying wine with the beneficial qualities they seek.
