A Little Wine Is Good for You, Except When It Isn’t

As an interpreter of medical data who’s also passionate about great food and wine, I embrace every study that says dark chocolate or Pinot Noir is going to ream out my arteries, make my free radicals pay their way, and allow me to live to 150 while still doing yoga handstands (and dating much, much younger men). I’m dismayed, however, when killjoy research comes along and throws doubt over the issue, like the wet-newspaper smell of a corked Cabernet.

THE C-WORD
Some of the recent news is, well, sobering. A huge study of middle-aged women reported in the February 24 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute found that “moderate” intake of alcohol (including wine) increased the risk of several types of cancer, including breast, liver, rectal and oral. This has provoked much discussion in the blogosphere, including this defense of her own wine drinking by Laura Fraser on TheDailyBeast.com. How do you balance a far-off risk with the pleasure of the now? Is it an all-or-nothing proposition, or is moderation the answer? The comments on her blog ran the gamut from the tsk-tsk “you’re an alcoholic” finger-pointers to the “carpe diem” crowd.

HEAVY METALS (AND I DON’T MEAN BLACK SABBATH)
A few years ago we all worried about lead leaching from our crystal decanters and Reidel Vinums, fouling up our perfectly anti-oxidized bloodstreams. Now, it seems, researchers have found potentially hazardous levels of heavy metals in the wines themselves—from 16 countries. As reported in Chemistry Central Journal, Hungarian and Slovakian wines are the worst. Wines tested from Argentina, Brazil and Italy were the only ones that didn’t show a potential health risk. My advice if you’re concerned? Moderation, of course (there's that word again). And maybe sacrificing that luscious but who-knew-it-was-toxic Tokaji for a nice Argentine Malbec. Or if you can afford it, go for the Barolo, baby!

S-E-X
In case you hadn’t noticed back in college, alcohol can lead to sex you might not have had otherwise! Studies have confirmed this, showing that among the young it can lead to unprotected sex, STDs and unwanted pregnancies. But among the more mature, shall we say, red wine has been shown to increase libido and sexual activity in women in a more positive way. Or so Decanter.com reported this week. I couldn’t actually find the study, supposedly done in Italy. Maybe they were too busy sipping Nebbiolo and making mad, passionate love to actually publish the findings. Or perhaps Decanter just made it up as an April Fool’s joke. But I fully support the findings either way.

A related study, which appeared in the Journal of Clinical Oenophilia, found that middle-aged women who wear aprons emblazoned with “I love to cook with wine—sometimes I even put it in the food” have twice as much sex as women who wear aprons printed with “World’s Greatest Grandma.” They live longer, too. OK, I made that one up. April Fool! But the point is valid: If a little wine leads to good (safe) sex, well then, that’s healthy. As my friend and heart surgeon Mehmet Oz, M.D., says, “People who have more than 100 orgasms each year do live longer, so having sex two times a week is the magic number.” With somebody is probably healthier than alone, in sex as in drinking wine!

COULD IT BE LOVE?

Let’s face it: Sex, love and social ties are what make life worth living. They keep us going. Wine isn’t required, but it lubricates the path: the moment when you lock eyes over a lifted glass and time slows down because you know that person across from you will be a part of your future and, maybe, a part of your soul—assuming he learns to pick up his socks and replace the roll of toilet paper once in a while.

My brother John and his wife Sandra sealed their deal
with the 1961 Château d'Yquem, his vintage birth year.

Some of my most cherished memories include wine. Some even revolve around wine. Like the 1961 Château d’Yquem my family opened to celebrate the marriage of my brother and his wife Sandra. In 1965 Dad had found the bottle in a wine shop in Minneapolis and grabbed it as a memento of his only son’s birth year. He tucked it away and said we’d open it to celebrate little John’s marriage. Dad probably figured that would be about 25 years away.

But John remained a happy bachelor for more than 40 years, and Dad passed away in 2003. But in 2006, John married his longtime love, Sandra, on the rocky shores of Lake Tahoe. We decided we'd open the famously long-lived Sauternes a couple of months later when we met for Christmas in Dallas (where the bottle had been "cellared" in a hall closet). Dad was there in spirit, as one of the most spectacular sunsets ever had unfolded earlier, while a V-flock of geese (one of his favorite symbols) flew overhead in the golden light.

We gathered around the wine for the ritual opening, above. The cork slipped out easily, and the wine was sparkling clear amber in color, still juicy and fruity, redolent of pears and figs, with a hint of vanilla, caramel and spice. It opened up in the glass and was still going strong after nearly two hours. It probably could outlive us all. The wine was young at heart, just like my dad. We raised a toast to him and the way he'd brought us all together with that bottle he'd bought (for $8.98!) so many years before. And despite all the risks and hazards inherent in both drinking wine and making a lifelong commitment to another human being, with all the potential messes, mistakes and embarrassments along the way, it's better than the alternative. That's the power of wine.

 

You can see the original price marked: $8.98. Cheers!

_____________________________________________________________________________________

AFTERTASTE

I wrote this blog as part of a team that contributed to the first (annual?) Dregs Report, a compendium of funny (and mostly not true) stories from the world of wine. I tried to write funny and untrue but found I'm not too good at that. So take this at face value.

Also, we know that alcohol has caused plenty of misery in the world. For some people moderation is not possible, and they are better off never drinking at all. For those of us who wrestle with moderation, we do intuitively know what it is, even if we occasionally exceed it. Dr. Oz says a general guideline is 1½ to 2 drinks a day for men, 1 to 1½ for women (a glass of wine is about 5 ounces).

Comments

[Jody]

Julie, this is lovely. So moving and evocative. Makes me want to go drink a glass of wine and have some sex. Thank you, my friend!

[Kathy Young]

Julie,
I loved it. It's all so much a part of our family celebrations. You know, my mom, your Aunt Clara, didn't really approve. She rather thought your dad had corrupted George and I!
Kathy

[Chris Cameron]

Julie,

What a truely wonderful story and tribute to your father whom I very fond memories of. I loved the family photo of the healthy and getting younger by the glass wine drinkers. A toast to all of you!
Chris

[Tish]

Well-done, Julie. Just re-read after rushing through it last week.
I have a few bottles of Yquem in my cellar. Not as old as the 1961 (also my birth year), but ripe and ready and I really should make up a good reason to open!

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