Drink to your health! Is wine really good for you?

Wine is basically magic, right? A cure-all elixir that makes the fountain of youth look like a warm can of Coke. At least that’s what the barrage of news reports, advertising promises and countless online headlines tell you. The fact is, wine is a boon to your body in several ways, but the benefits are far smaller in scale than we have been led to believe. Can this be true? Bob the Wine Guy, is minimizing some wine fact rather than embellishing it. Will wonders never cease?

Well, boys and girls, here’s the juice: Starting with the heart, the key to wine’s role, according to researchers is a compound called quercetin, a blood pressure-lowering flavonoid found in most red wines whose benefit comes on fast. A Spanish study showed drinking a little red wine every day lowered blood pressure by several points in just four weeks.

What about it’s effect on bone? A recent Australian study tracked adults over 50 years old for two years. They found bone density increased in men who drank wine, but not women. Now, girls don’t fret, a separate study from the University of Oregon found when women who normally had one or two glasses of wine a day stopped imbibing for two weeks their bone health suffered, increasing the risk of osteoporosis.

Okay, how about cholesterol? Wine increases good cholesterol HDL, which devours bad cholesterol LDL before it clogs your arteries, lowering your risk of a heart attack. In what is now a landmark study, scientists in Denmark had people drink two glasses of red wine every day for a month and their HDL levels rose by 16%.

Okay, here comes my favorite: The brain. It’s a myth that alcohol kills brain cells. In fact a seven year Norwegian study of over 5000 folks showed those who drank wine at least twice a week scored better than teetotalers on cognitive function tests. Wine may also sharpen your memory (just, you know, not when over imbibing). Like where did I leave my glass? British scientists gave mice champagne and saw a 200% increase in a protein known to boost short-term recall. I should point out here that those same mice couldn’t remember where there glass was, either.

How about the libido? Yes, wine can help fuel romance and it also boosts the biology behind your sex drive. Researchers at the University of Southern California found regular red wine sippers have higher levels of testosterone, which revs the libido in both men and women.

As for the plumbing, not only do tannins support a healthy digestive system; they may help prevent colon cancer. When Spanish researchers had people drink a glass of Merlot every day for 20 days, there was a spike in bacteria that helps bolster the cancer fighting powers of antioxidants.

How does it affect the skin? Despite what Dr.Oz says, drinking resveratrol-rich red wine will not guard against sunburn or melanomas. To shield your skin you need to slather on lotion and sunblock that boasts the antioxidant. (Soaking in a tub of Pinot Noir won’t protect you either.) That being said, the anti-inflammatory properties of phenols and flavonoids found in both red and white wines can bolster collagen, which will help delay wrinkles.

We are starting a new event here at the Souza Family Vineyard. Beginning Nov. 2, which is a Sunday, we will be featuring a “Celebrity Bartender for Charity”. This individual will be bartending from 2 to 5 p.m. and a donation to that person’s favorite charity will ensue. Our first, and I guess you can say inaugural, celebrity bartender will be Ron Depew, or as many of you know him as Tehachapi’s Ambassador at Large. Ron and his wife Doris have been very active with Links for Life, Relay For Life, and many other very worthy charities. We are proud and pleased that Ron has agreed to be our first celebrity bartender, and again a percentage of sales that day will go to his favorite charity. Come and see what Ron looks like on the other side of the bar.

In the following weeks we have already had folks agree to be celebrity bartenders, they include Nikki and Buddy Cummings; Michelle Vance; Susan Wiggins; and other notables. We’re hoping that Claudia White will also be available if we can find a booster seat for behind the bar. Just kidding, Claudia. [Publisher’s note: Bob is such a kidder. He has promised me he would get a step stool for Jan.25, 2015, when I have agreed to be the featured bartender. I can’t wait! ~ Claudia White]

So last week my Uncle Tony and I are talking about my Aunt Sophia’s driving. Her driving is getting really bad. One day she was driving down the street when all of a sudden her car started swerving across the road. The car kept going back and forth; delaying traffic for miles until someone finally phoned the police. A police officer pulled her car over and approached the window. Aunt Sophia rolls down the window.

“Excuse me, Ma’am, but is there any explanation for your reckless driving?” she asks.

“Officer, I’m so glad you are here. There was a tree in the road, and I swerved. Then I saw another tree, and another, right in the middle of the road! So, I had to swerve to keep from hitting them.”

The officer looks at her, then says, “Ma’am, that’s your air freshener.”

Bada Bing!

Don’t forget our TGIFs at the tasting room each Friday with live music, food and friends. Check our website http://www.SouzaFamilyVineyard.com for details.

Till next time, abbondanza fortuna.