This Week in Wine – 9/25/11
September 25, 2011
It’s all a Bunch of Lies! There is no Wine Fountain of Youth, New Study Says.
A group of scientists who thought they found the fountain of youth may be all wet. New research from England suggests the red wine compound called resveratrol may not extend lifespan at all.
The scientists, including Dr. Leonard Guarente, professor of biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, were excited by studies that seemed to show that resveratrol could "activate" longevity-promoting proteins called sirtuins. Alas, that doesn’t seem to be the case.
"We have re-examined the key experiments linking sirtuin with longevity in animals and none seem to stand up to close scrutiny," study author Dr. David Gems, professor of aging at the University of London, said in a written statement. "Sirtuins, far from being a key to longevity appear to have nothing to do with extending life.” he stated.
Click here for the full story.
My Thoughts
I’ve been saying it for quite some time now, and I’m not even a scientist!
In studies, wine drinkers always seem to come out on-top in terms of their health and lifespan. Call me crazy, but in studies between beer drinkers, liquor drinkers, wine drinkers and even non-drinkers; which one do you think would come out as the healthier, smarter, and as earning a higher income? Wine drinkers will come out on-top every time, but it shouldn’t just be attributed to the wine itself. Think of it as a “culture-thing”…
Wine Industry Could Reap Major Savings from Alka-Seltzer
Alka-Seltzer has been soothing human indigestion and heartburn for years. Now, it’s helping out the wine industry.
Elemental sulfur is wine’s "frenemy" – it effectively keeps the ubiquitous powdery mildew disease in vineyards at bay, but excessive residues carried over into wine can result in a rotten egg aroma.
Now a new, inexpensive method developed by Cornell scientists gives the wine industry a way to protect both vines and fermentations by monitoring residues — using Alka-Seltzer tablets to make a winery-friendly protocol. The same protocol may be useful for such industries as construction, wastewater management, petrochemicals and forensic analysis, say the researchers.
Alka-Seltzer protocol takes less than half an hour to perform, requires equipment that costs about $50, uses consumables that cost only about $5 per analysis and could save growers thousands of dollars
Click here for the full story.
My Thoughts
Good ol’ Alka Seltzer! Now it can actually be a part of the wine-making process, and not used just the morning after you’ve consumed too much!
National Moscato Group Formed…Kind Of
Moscato Nation, an association for America’s fastest-growing varietal, was announced recently by founder Christina Julian. Growers, producers, members of the trade and consumers are invited to join and share the growing enthusiasm for moscato. “Its website, moscatonation.org, will be a lively platform for all things moscato,” Julian said. “The organization has sprung up in response to the enormous popularity of this easy-drinking varietal,” she said, and asks, “What other wine has more than a hundred rap songs devoted to it?”
The founding winery members of Moscato Nation are Benessere Vineyards, Bronco Wine Company and Moscato Allegro.
Click here for the full story.
My Thoughts
I wasn’t even going to waste my time in posting this story, but I thought it would be interesting to point out how companies already seem to be exploiting the recent popularity of Moscato.
I clicked on moscatonation.org, and it redirected me to moscatonation.blogspot.com/. The website (which is hosted free through Blogger), must have taken the best part of 10 minutes to design and build. Nice. Then I started clicking around. I selected the “Join the Moscato Nation” tab, and options were provided for membership going up to $500, with it not being exactly too clear what you get for your money. Don’t waste your time.
Grapes Blessed at Grgich Hills
During Friday’s Blessing of the Grapes at Rutherford’s Grgich Hills Cellars, winery partners Mike Grgich and Austin Hills were both remembering a time half a lifetime ago.
Speaking before a crowd of about 70 people, Grgich said this year is the 35th anniversary of the famous Paris Tasting. “Before that, the French led in quality, but in 1976, Napa Valley went and beat them up, proving that Napa Valley soil is better than French soil. Napa Valley became No. 1 in quality,” he said. Grgich, of course, produced the 1973 Chateau Montelena chardonnay that won the tasting while he was winemaker at the Calistoga winery. The following year, he and Hills bought land and began building a winery.
Click here for the full story.
My Thoughts
No thoughts from me, just a cool story.
Restaurant Traffic Declines
Restaurant traffic sputtered and dropped in the spring during the second quarter of 2011, as consumers began to feel their discretionary income squeezed, according to new research from The NPD Group.
“The consumer demand in the prior three quarters wasn’t strong enough to overcome another bump in unemployment, rising gas and commodity prices, and low consumer confidence,” said Bonnie Riggs, The NPD Group’s restaurant industry analyst. “The confidence they had in the latter part of last year and the beginning of this year was eroded by bad economic news.”
Click here for the full story.
My Thoughts
Not good news, especially since I work in the restaurant industry!
This entry was posted in News and tagged Chateau Montelena, Grgich Hills, Health, Moscato, Moscato d'Asti, Sirtuin, Sirtuins. Bookmark the permalink. ← Blue Cheese and Red Blends Tasting at The Tasting Room Orin Swift “Saldo” Zinfandel 2009 →
