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MAY 2010
DID YOU KNOW. . . that Millennials are vital to the wine industry's future, and a recent report by the Wine Market Council based on focus groups revealed some interesting attitudes of these young people.
Wine implies a sophistication not associated with beer, as well as a "connecting point" that connotes both fun/relaxation but also special occasions. Recommendations from friends and family are the most important factors in choosing wine, and clearly targeted marketing arouses skepticism. The "wine and health" message is widely known and accepted. And the lower cost of wine during the past couple of years of the economic recession has increased their interest and willingness to try different wines.
This last factor, regardless of the generation involved, raised one of the big questions as the economy (supposedly) improves: Will the millions of Americans who traded down on price (and discovered many good wines in the process) trade back up to more expensive wines? Both the Wine Market Council and the Nielsen Company keep tabs on this question and, assuming the economy actually improves (and people sense that), they almost certainly will have that answer in their annual seminars in January 2011.
One more thing to NOT worry about because it's Spring, it's absolutely beautiful and life is good!
APRIL 2010
DID YOU KNOW. . . that Jerry and I are back from a glorious trip to New Zealand -- despite the 19-1/2 hours in the air and the 11 hours sitting in airports awaiting the next leg on our journey. But that aside, New Zealand is absolutely beautiful (especially the South Island, I think). So, if you're even a little adventuresome, don't ever hesitate to trek to this part of the world. . .and, the wines are superb too!
So, we're back and we've already started Spring by attending The Capital District Plant & Garden Show in Troy last weekend. Last year a few wineries were invited to attend for tastings and sales. It was so successful that the sponsors invited a few more this year. There were only seven of us, mostly small ones, but that's great -- you know, "the supply and demand thing". Believe me when I say that wineries, especially small ones like mine, could be delivered a devestating blow by the Feds and the State if all the new regulations and massive tax increases that are proposed go into effect. So every bottle sold might keep us open one more year. I'll not worry about that now because it's Spring and it's absolutely beautiful and life is good!
EXTRACTED FROM AN ARTICAL BY THE WINE & GRAPE FOUNDATION
SEPTEMBER 2009
DID YOU KNOW. . . that we've kept most of our wine prices the same as last years' -- some are still at 2007 prices! We hope that our customers will continue enjoying the healthful benefits of moderate wine consumption during the current economic conditions were all facing. Actually, a little wine might help us keep our sanity!
DID YOU ALSO KNOW. . . that "SIN TAXES" on wine are a politically easy target for raising revenues, but also economically counterproductive. Given the severe budget crunches on state and federal levels, it's understandable that public officials are looking for additional revenues. Already this year, the state's wine excise tax was raised significantly, and now the proposed federal budget includes new "fees" (a.k.a. taxes) in considering options for funding the health care overhaul by tripling the wine excise tax from $1.07 to about $3.50.This would be totally devastating not only to New York's wineries but to those nationwide. Thomas Jefferson said long ago, "I think it is a great error to consider a heavy tax on wine as a tax on luxury. On the contrary, it is a tax on the health of our citizens." (He knew about the benefits of moderate wine consumption even then.) In short, it's simply a bad idea.
EXTRACTED FROM AN ARTICAL BY THE WINE & GRAPE FOUNDATION
AUGUST 2009
Sorry, no article this month.
JULY 2009
DID YOU KNOW. . . that Omega-3 fatty acids, most commonly associated with fish consumption, may also be increased by moderate alcohol consumption, and particularly wine, according to a recent European study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Many studies have shown that Omega-3 fatty acids are associated with a reduced risk of heart disease, and particularly a reduced risk of sudden death. Salmon and other fish have long been known as key sources, but this and other recent studies with similar results confirm that wine in particular has essentially the same effect. This provides a new mechanism by which wine can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and also an alternative for people who don't like fish. The additional benefit from wine over other alcohol beverages may be due to the polyphenols derived from the grapes.
THE NY WINE & GRAPE FOUNDATION
JUNE 2009
DID YOU KNOW. . . that we've kept most of our wine prices the same as last years' -- some are still at 2007 prices. We hope that our customers will continue enjoying the healthful benefits of moderate wine consumption during the current economic conditions we're all facing. Actually, a little wine might help us keep our sanity!
MAY 2009
DID YOU KNOW. . . that we've kept most of our wine prices the same as last years' -- some are still at 2007 prices. We hope that our customers will continue enjoying the healthful benefits of moderate wine consumption during the current economic conditions we're all facing. Actually, a little wine might help us keep our sanity!
Once again it's noted that the moderate consumption of wine seems to lower the microvascular complications of Type 1 Diabetes (not generally associated with obesity), with less benefit from beer and none from spirits, according to a new study. The effect was especially strong for people consuming between 3 and 18 drinks per week and on a regular basis (5-7 days a week) rather than sporatically. A separate study showed that moderate wine consumption also lowers the risk of Alzheimer's Disease or other dementia. In other words, regular moderate wine consumption is good for the heart, good for the mind (and great for the soul).
THE NY WINE & GRAPE FOUNDATION
APRIL 2009
DID YOU KNOW. . . that El Paso Winery is now open? Jerry and I got a little bit of South American sun on our faces and now we're ready to enjoy another beautiful Hudson Valley Spring.
Although I usually use this space to write a health article every month, I would like everyone to know that because of the recession we're all suffering through, we've not only kept our tastings "free" but we've kept most of our wines at 2007 and 2008 prices whenever possible.
Jerry and I hope that our loyal customers and friends won't
"line veto" the sunny "juice" when working on their budgets. In fact, this would be the perfect time for a glass of El Paso wine!
Just a quick note, not on wine but on Concord grape juice. You'll notice quite a bit of advertising this month on radio and TV promoting the many health benefits of drinking Concord grape juice for people of all ages. Remember, juice made from Concord grapes is, like red wine, rich in polyphenols which promote cardiovascular health, long-term cognitive function, and a healthy immune system.
DECEMBER 2008
DID YOU KNOW. . . Lung cancer risk may be reduced by moderate red wine consumption, especially among current or former smokers, according to a new California study published in the journal, Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention. The study by Kaiser Permanente Southern California, involved more than 80,000 men aged 45 to 69. Current and former smokers who drank red wine were 60% less likely to develop lung cancer abstainers, with the reduction in risk even greater among heavy smokers in particular. White wine, beer and spirits had no effect, suggesting that the unique compounds in red wine such as resveratrol and flavanoids are responsible for the beneficial effects. (Note: Many are also present in Concord grape juice, though this study did not examine that. A recent UCLA study rated Concord grape juice #3 after only pomegranate juice and red wine in a listing of the top 10 healthy drinks.) In a separate study, the resveratrol in red wine seems to have some benefits for the prevention and treatment of multiple sclerosis.
NY Wine & Grape Foundation
NOVEMBER 2008
DID YOU KNOW. . .Sorry, no health article this month.
OCTOBER 2008
DID YOU KNOW. . . Wine consumption among Americans is up, while beer consumption is down, spirits is about flat, and overall alcohol consumption is down, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Medicine. The lead researcher is Dr. R. Curtis Ellison, who has appeared twice on 60 Minutes to explain the "French Paradox", founded the Institute on Health at Boston Univeristy School of Medicine. Middle-aged people are consuming about a third less alcohol than 50 years ago, due to a combination of more people who don't drink and more moderate consumption among those who do. Average alcohol consumption among men has gone from about two and a half to one and a half drinks per day. While the precise reasons for these trends aren't clear, it's reasonable to suggest that the public has heard about the health benefits of moderate wine consumption, the dangers of binge drinking, and the importance of integrating wine into a healthy lifestyle. If so, that's good news all around.
NY Wine & Grape Foundation
SEPTEMBER 2008
DID YOU KNOW. . . Alcohol use disorder (AUD), which essentially means drinking too much, may be significantly reduced when wine is more than 30% of total alcohol consumption, according to a recent Danish study. The research found that wine consumers were less likely to develop AUD than consumers of beer or spirits, which could be related to lifestyle differences or non-alcoholic substances in wine like polyphenols that may have some effect. Reacting to the study's results, one prominent scientist suggested that the acids in wine, and especially tannins in red wine, make it difficult to consume a lot of wine by itself; and also make it more pleasant to have wine with food. When any alcoholic beverage is consumed with food, the blood alcohol level is much lower than without food, often by half. In other words, the inherent nature of wine does not lend itself to abuse. Interesting concept. . .
NY Wine & Grape Foundation
AUGUST 2008
DID YOU KNOW. . . Sorry, no health article this month.
JULY 2008
DID YOU KNOW. . . Alzheimer's disease risk may be reduced by the polyphenolic compounds found in purple grape juice as well as red wine, according to new research from New York's Mt. Sinai Hospital published in the Journal of Neuroscience. Dr. Giulio Maria Pasinetti and his colleagues found that the polyphenolics in grape seed extract (which makes its way into wine and juice) fights a type of plaque which causes brain deterioration, and could reduce the risk of Alzheimer's by 30% to 50% with normal (moderate) consumption. The research was funded in part by the New York Wine & Grape Foundation, and has led to a huge government grant for further study.
NY Wine & Grape Foundation
JUNE 2008
DID YOU KNOW. . . Resveratrol, that strange-sounding ingredient in red wine just keeps getting better in terms of health benefits, according to research. Awhile ago, front-page stories around the country were reporting its seeming protection against diseases (like diabetes) linked to obesity. Another study published in Cell indicates that resveratrol increases endurance as well. The study found that mice given resveratrol could run twice as far as others before becoming exhausted, and have energy-charged muscels and reduced heart rates just like trained athletes. Based on research in Finland, the effect on humans is believed to be similar. The apparent mechanism is a transformation of the body's energy-generating cells that turns muscle fibers into the type characteristic of trained athletes. The lead researcher said, "Resveratrol makes you look like a trained athlete without the training." H-m-m, sounds good to me.
NY Wine & Grape Foundation
MAY 2008
DID YOU KNOW. . . Red wine may help regulate blood sugar levels in diabetics, according to a study recently published in the Journal of Food Biochemistry. The study showed that red wine might inhibit, by nearly 100% the activity of an enzyme responsible for triggering the absorption of glucose by the small intestine. White wine was far less effective (20% decrease), showing that the concentration of polyphenolics is the major factor, with red wine containing about 10 times as much. This research is very significant because more than 10 million Americans (7% of the population) have diabetes, with $92 billion of the $132 billion total costs directly related to medication. The authors suggest that specific beverage combinations could generate a whole food profile with the potential to manage type 2 diabetes and its complications, especially in the early stages.
NY Wine & Grape Foundation
APRIL 2008
DID YOU KNOW. . . Cancer risk may be reduced by 20% both by eating substantial and varied amounts of fruits and vegetables, and also by 20% by keeping alcohol intake within recommended limits in the case of aerodigestive track, colon, and breast cancer, according to a massive study released recently. Published by the World Cancer Research Fund, the report is the most comprehensive one ever written about the links between cancer and food, nutrition and physical activity; and was prepared by 21 international experts analyzing about 7,000 studies. In response to the study, Dr. R. Curtis Ellison, Founder and Director of the Institute of Lifestyle & Health (Boston University School of Medicine), said, "scientific data have repeatedly shown that the net effects of moderate drinking in middle-aged and older adults is a decrease in morbidity and mortality from many of the diseases of aging, and a lowering in total mortality."
Gee, morbidity/mortality sounds dreadful -- moderate drinking sounds great! So, where's the merlot?
NY Wine & Grape Foundation
DECEMBER
DID YOU KNOW. . . New compounds that act like the red wine ingredient resveratrol may offer a new formula for diabetes drugs and other age-related diseases, researchers at U.S. drug maker Sirtris Pharmaceuticals reported in the media this week. "The excitement here is that we're not [just] talking about red wine anymore. We're talking about real drugs," said David Sinclair associated professor of pathology at Harvard Medical School, whose research appears in the journal Nature.
Sinclair and researchers at Sirtris have been looking for drug components that mimic the effects of resveratrol, the red wine element that has been shown in several studies to prolong the life of mice and reduce the advance of age-related diseases.
Their latest research shows these experimental drug components helped reverse diabetes symptoms and reduced insulin sensitivity in three different studies in diabetic mice. Sinclair said that this is enough to begin human testing, which the company plans for the first half of 2008 and that the chances of success in humans is estimated at 80 to 90 percent. "Other age-related diseases could include cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer's," Sinclair said.
Great news! So, in the meanwhile, have another glass of Cabernet!
NY Wine & Grape Foundation
NOVEMBER
DID YOU KNOW. . . Red wine may help prevent prostate cancer, according to a University of Alabama study published in the Journal of Carcinogenesis. Once again, the key component appears to be resveratrol, a naturally occurring fungicide that develops on grape skins to ward off disease and has been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease and total mortality. Resveratrol is prominent in many red wines, but not white because of the way wines are made; the color of red wines comes from the pigment in the skins, not the juice (which is yellow), and like the pigment the resveratrol also gets transferred during prolonged skin contact, which is minimal for white wines to avoid harsh flavors. The study showed that resveratrol-fed mice had an 87% reduction in risk of developing prostate tumors, mirroring a UAB study last year showing a similar risk reduction for breast cancer. The research team is now starting to test resveratrol consumption in humans. Meanwhile, the lead researcher said, "I drink a glass every evening because I'm concerned about prostate cancer. It runs in my family."
NY Wine & Grape Foundation
OCTOBER
DID YOU KNOW. . . Cognitive function (thinking) is enhanced by moderate wine consumption, which also reduces the risk of dementia--but moderation is the key, according to several published studies from the U.S., China and Finland. The independent studies all came to the same overall conclusion that mild to moderate alcohol consumption, compared with abstaining, was associated with better cognitive function or put another way, less cognitive decline among older people. However, the Finnish study also showed that binge drinking in midlife is related to an increase in dementia, particularly for those who had passed out from excessive alcohol intake more than once; and the Chinese study also indicated an association between heavy drinking and dementia. While the specific beneficial mechanisms of moderate drinking are not known, the authors of one study suggest that improvements in the good cholesterol (HDL), lowered risk of diabetes and insulin resistance, and less obesity --which are all seen among moderate drinkers -- may contribute to a reduced risk of both cardiovascular disease and poor cognitive functioning.
NY Wine & Grape Foundation
SEPTEMBER
DID YOU KNOW. . . Lifestyle has often been considered a "confounding" factor in scientific and medical studies on wine consumption and health: Are moderate wine consumers generally healthier because they consume wine, or because they generally have healthier lifestyles than others? Finally, an important study seems to have an answer: It's the wine! The study examined a population that had only healthy lifestyles, with results indicating that those who consumed wine were healthier than abstainers. The study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine showed that even among very "healthy" men, those consuming 1 to 2 drinks per day had 62% lower risk of heart attack than people with the same healthy lifestyle who did not consume any alcohol. The results refute the common idea that less heart disease among drinkers is due to the lifestyle factors rather than their alcohol consumption.
NY Wine & Grape Foundation
AUGUST
DID YOU KNOW. . . White grapes and wine may be just as healthy as red, according to a new study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. The conventional wisdom has been that the skin contact in making red wine adds powerful antioxidants to the wine which white wines don't have. But researchers in the united States and Italy showed for the first time that the flesh of grapes is as cardioprotective as the skin, and that the antioxidant potential of skin and flesh of grapes are comparable with each other despite the fact that flesh does not possess any anthocyanin activities. Basically, the skin and flesh act in different ways, but both have significant benefits in reducing the risk of heart disease when consumed in moderation. In any case, wine is not medicine, but pleasure, and the best wine is the wine you like best!
NY Wine & Grape Foundation
JULY
DID YOU KNOW . . . Red wine is among "10 Foods That Pack a Wallop" of beneficial ingredients, according to a Time magazine's cover story on how to stay healthy. While appropriately emphasizing moderation, the piece mentioned the polyphenols and resveratrol from grape skins, which boost the good cholesterol and inhibit hardening of the arteries. Since the wine industry is legally prohibited by the federal government from advertising the positive health effects of moderate wine consumption, it is encouraging to see major media like Time (and 60 Minutes, on two occasions, informing the public. The other nine foods: tomatoes, spinach, nuts, broccoli, oats, salmon, garlic, blueberries and green tea.
NY Wine & Grape Foundation
JUNE
DID YOU KNOW. . . White wine may be even better for you than red in terms of preventing diseases affecting bones and joints, according to research presented at a Wine and Health conference in California by Dr. Alberto Bertelli of the University of Milan.White wine contains anti-inflammatory compounds and anti-oxidants, which may prevent rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis--the smaller molecules in white wine (compared with red) are more easily absorbed into the bloodstream. Once again, moderation is the key: while up to two glasses a day can help, higher consumption appears to cancel out any benefits.
Once again, no wonder my grandparents lived into their 90's!
NY Wine & Grape Foundation
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