Wine: the elixir of love — and health?
The science is still out, but you and your valentine could do worse
Because wine is an elixir of love and also, ostensibly, a heart-healthy option for imbibing, Valentine’s Day seems the perfect time to revisit the physiological/psychological benefits of this indubitably sensual beverage humankind has celebrated, and celebrated with, since that first grape was fermented. Imbibing observers as diverse as the poets Yeats and Homer, the scientist Louis Pasteur and the writer Ernest Hemingway speak with one voice in suggesting wine must be good for us because, if for no other reason, it makes us happy.
Pasteur called wine “the most healthful and hygienic of beverages.” For Hemingway, wine was “one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been brought to the greatest perfection, (offering) a greater range for enjoyment and appreciation than, possibly, any other purely sensory thing.” Then, from Homer: “Wine can of their wits the wise beguile, Make the sage frolic, and the serious smile.”
You’ll find Houston cardiologist Stan Duchman — who also happens to own a respected winery in Driftwood — on their bandwagon, too. I turned to Duchman for an educated, up-to-date opinion about wine’s alleged medicinal benefits. After admitting “my objectivity is terrible” — remember, he sells the stuff — he conceded, “Everything we know is based on reviews and epidemiological studies. There’s no double-blind controlled trial that has ever been done or could be done for a long enough period of time to scientifically determine that drinking wine makes us healthier.
“But everyone has pretty much come to agree that wine, especially red wine, is the healthiest of all the alcohol drinks when it’s (paired with) the consumption with food.”
When the so-called “French Paradox” became a much-discussed topic a couple of decades ago, it was assumed the polyphenols and antioxidants in wine (again, especially reds) were counterbalances for the cholesterol-heavy diets of the French. Researchers especially zeroed in on Resveratrol, found in red-wine-grape skins and chocolate, as the potential miracle substance because it has antioxidant properties and it also helps to make arteries more flexible, thereby lowering blood pressure.
Many trials have been done but, alas, with disappointing results for those who want to see wine as a health food.
“When they gamed resveratol out as a supplement,” Duchman said, “there was never any proven benefit. Is gin bad for you? Not necessarily. Is red wine good for you? Maybe, maybe not. It depends on the (general health) of the population and how they drink it.” One study led by Dr. Richard Semba, a professor of ophthalmology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, found no significant differences in the rate of death from those with the lowest levels of resveratrol to the highest. They also found no association with higher levels and a lower risk of heart disease or cancer. Truth to tell, the lowest rates of heart disease were in people with the lowest levels of resveratrol. Oh, well. However, Duchman believes “the cultural and social benefits” of the wine experience “are healthy things, absolutely. But if you’re obese, diabetic and/or hypertensive, consuming lots of alcohol of any kind probably isn’t your smartest bet. France and Italy without question drink more red wine on a per capita basis. But you’ll notice those people tend to have longer meals and consume their wine with those meals.
“There is something to be said,” he concludes, “for a little slower, more moderate way of enjoying wine with food.”
Wine boosts fundraising efforts
Toward that end, pairing wine and food with fundraising efforts is becoming increasingly widespread in Houston. The recent 2018 Heart Ball, benefiting the American Heart Association, added a serious wine-centric component to the program for the first time. Twelve bottles that had earned 100-point scores by critics were included in the silent auction, going for $13,000.
And, for a number of years, the Houston Symphony has held a black-tie dinner on the stage at Jones Hall called “A Legendary Symphony of Wines.” The silent-auction wines up for bid at this year’s soirée brought in $570,000 for the education and community activities carried out by the symphony’s musicians. Note that the symphony event offered its own case of 100-pointers, and it sold for $12,000.
The wines selected by the Spec’s Rydman family that were served with the three-course meal prepared by City Kitchen rose to the occasion, too. They were as follows: 2014 Château de Santenay Chassagne-Montrachet and 2015 Berthaut-Gerbet Fixin from Burgundy as well as three Bordeaux: 2008 Château Branaire-Ducru, 2008 Château Haut-Batailley and 2006 Château L’Evangile.
Da Camera has gotten into the act as well. Its April 28 gala at The Houstonian, which will have a menu shaped by Robert Del Grande, will feature an innovative “cork pull.” Donated wines (to donate a bottle visit doubledecanted.com/da-camera) will be assigned numbers, and attendees can then purchase pre-determined courts of numbers, thus taking home whatever bottles are associated with them.
Da Camera unveiled the plans by hosting a mini-chamber-music concert that got off to a festive start when Krug Champagne was deftly paired with a Beethoven sonata.
‘Wine enters through the mouth, Love, the eyes. I raise the glass to my mouth, I look at you, I sigh.’ W.B. Yeats