The latest herbal remedy renaissance is resveratrol. I can’t walk into a chemist to buy a packet of plasters without being confronted by an all-singing all-dancing resveratrol offer. Yesterday there was an ad on the radio extolling the virtues of it and I found myself telling the radio it should just have a glass of wine.
Obviously, a radio can’t hear me nor drink wine, and the men in white coats have been alerted of my latest penchant for talking to the radio. But come on, there’s a global wine glut. Why do we need to take a tasteless pill for something we can obtain from a delicious glass of wine? Beats me.
So what wines should you look for if you want to up your resveratrol intake? Reds should be top of your list. Research has found red wines have ten times more resveratrol than whites – damn, there goes my excuse for having another glass of Riesling.
In the red corner, Muscadine has the highest concentration of resveratol of all grape varieties but how often do you see Muscadine on the shelves outside of the USA? And if you did, would you want to drink it?! Pinot Noir also tends to have high levels of resveratrol whereas Cabernet Sauvignon has lower levels. According to the bible, a.k.a The Oxford Companion, cooler regions tend to produce wines higher in resveratrol, so think Burgundy, Washington and New Zealand – not Australia or India.
If there’s a market for selling resveratrol pills, then surely there’s a gap in the market for wines high in resveratrol. Well, so it seems, but that gap has already been identified by a Hunter Valley winery. Pendarves has created a Resveratrol Enhanced Wines that contains between 1,500% and 10,000% of the ‘normal’ levels of the antioxidant resveratrol. It claims resveratrol levels in its ‘Wine Doctor’ red wines are increased from 3-6mg/l to about 100mg/l, and those in its white wines are also increased from 1mg/l to about 100mg/l.
But does it taste any good? I’ll seek out a bottle and let you know. If you’ve already tried it and been impressed/distressed, let us know.
