Tessa Drysdale

A Glass of Red by Tessa Drysdale Plato may have been wiser than he knew when he said, "Nothing more excellent or valuable than wine was ever granted by the Gods to man." The health benefits of wine have been known since ancient times. Wine can assist in the conversion of cholesterol, increase energy levels, treat hypertension and stimulate the production of hydrochloric acid, aiding digestion. Wine dilates the small blood vessels and helps to prevent angina and clotting. The alcohol in wine additionally helps balance cholesterol towards the good type. Wine might even preserve cognitive function in the elderly. Moderation is The Key The key to reaping the health benefits of red wine is moderation. Did you know that drinking one glass a day for women and up to two glasses of wine daily, for men, may decrease the risk of heart disease, cancer and stroke? Excessive or binge drinking, however, doesn't produce the same benefits. When it comes to red wine, more is not better. Red wine contains several antioxidants (vitamin E, vitamin C, and beta-carotene) which are beneficial to good health. Different antioxidants have different functions, but the key feature of all these antioxidants appears to be one of protection and prevention of disease. Boosting Antioxidants: Dr Red A diet high in antioxidants reduces the risk of many diseases, including heart disease and certain forms of cancer. Antioxidants scavenge the free radicals from the body cells, and prevent or reduce the damage caused by oxidation. Organic winemaker and chemist, Greg Jardine from a Brisbane vineyard has created an antioxidant boosted wine called Dr Red. “The testing of antioxidants in pill form (such as vitamin E, Vitamin C, and betacarotene) has not been favourable in recent years. I was looking for an easy assimilation into the Australian Diet, and it seemed an easier option for consumers to replace a current beverage they were drinking with one that had enhanced antioxidants,” says Greg. A standard red wine has one third of the grape antioxidants whereas Dr Red has 100 percent. “As a winemaker, I eventually realised that I was tossing out the most potent antioxidant, the grape seed, and skin. As a chemist/biochemist, I decided to extract them and put them back into the wine, coffee, and cordials. What people don’t realise is that the tiny grape seed gives up only a third of its antioxidants when red grapes are fermented. The other two thirds of the flavonoids are tossed into the field. It is no secret that the most beneficial active ingredients in nature are quite nasty to the taste buds. They are bitter, or full of tannin, or very dry (astringency) and even acidic in their taste characters, “says Greg. illness and received very little interest from people who wanted to use antioxidants in a preventative sense. Hence the market actually drove us towards the use of an antioxidant cocktail to bring about the death of cancer cells in the laboratory,” says Greg. “Our style of wine making is very hands on and very different from how most wines are made. We have the scientific approach but we also embrace traditional winemaking processes as well as creating new processes to get the results we want,” says Greg. Visit www.brisbanesvineyard.com.au for more information on Dr Red. “The selection and extraction of potent antioxidants from fruit requires considerable research and trials, but the true challenge is how to put them into a common day beverage and make it taste great. “When Dr Red was first launched we only wanted to create a cost-effective way to add antioxidants into every day beverages such as wine, coffee and cordial. We were trying to supplement the goodness one gains from eating whole foods. However, as the word got out we actually attracted people who had chronic CONSCIOUS LIVING Issue 69 |13