Reasons To Get Into Wine

This is an article from Gemma Renton

One of the services we most like to offer is wine tours. Wine tours are fantastic fun, but many people think they’re just for acknowledged wine buffs. Not so! Anyone can enjoy a wine tour, whatever your level of ‘expertise’ in the subject! To be honest, you don’t really even have to like wine to have a great time on a wine tour – the process itself is fascinating enough – but if you did fancy getting into wine, a wine tour is a good place to start. There are lots of reasons to get into wine – here are just a few of them…

It’s Good For You

Ok, we should probably start this with a caveat: however good wine is for you in moderation, if you overdo it, you will pay the price. There is a bell curve with wine, whereby it’s good for you up to a certain point – but exceed that point and your health will plummet pretty sharply! Quite apart from the risks of addiction and all the issues that entails, excessive wine intake will do a number on your liver, and make you feel pretty rubbish in the morning! However, that aside, moderate wine intake can benefit your health in a variety of ways, including…

• Heart Health. The antioxidant resveratrol found in red wine is widely credited with improving cardiovascular health. Red wine lovers tend to have lower blood pressure, lower ‘bad’ cholesterol levels, and are generally less likely to suffer from coronary heart disease. As heart disease is one of the biggest killers in the developed world, this is not to be sniffed at!

• Lower Dementia Risk. This one isn’t, in fairness, true of all wines. However, if you’ve a taste for the finer things in life, you’re in luck. When consumed in moderation, champagne has recently been discovered to significantly lower one’s risk of developing dementia. Why? Jury’s still out on that question, but it probably has something to do with the phenolic compounds in champagne.

• Lower Diabetes Risk. There’s evidence to suggest that moderate wine drinkers are at 30% lower risk of developing Type 2 diabetes than teetotalers. This may have more to do with overall lifestyle choices on the part of wine drinkers and non-drinkers than the actual wine consumption, but probably best to open a bottle just in case!

• Lower Risk Of Cataracts. Bizarrely, wine drinkers are less likely to develop cataracts than their wine-shunning counterparts. Why? No idea, but it’s a fact nonetheless!

• Longer Life. Perhaps for all the reasons mentioned above, wine drinkers tend to live a lot longer than those who prefer beer or spirits. Interestingly, they also live longer than teetotallers – assuming that they stick to moderate intake, and don’t overdo it.

It Improves Your Social Life

OK, this one is a bit of a moot point – as it’s less about the wine and more about the way you drink it. If you hoard your wine all to yourself and only drink inside the house, you’re not going to get any social benefits. However, if you’re inclined to share your newfound passion for wine, your social life is likely to improve as a result. Of course, you don’t need alcohol to have a great time with your friends, but there is nonetheless a reason why alcohol plays such an important role in Western social interaction. Wine in particular gives you something to talk about, to share, and to enjoy together. Many people think that wine is good for your social life because it gets you drunk and lowers your inhibitions. And, sure, this can help in certain contexts. However, in most cases, it’s more about the sharing of something special and delicious. Pouring wine you love for someone else gives you a chance to share something you like, that you’re interested in. It lets you share an experience which is special to you, which in turn promotes friendship (oh, and that’s good for you as well).

It’s Fascinating

Wine is so much more than a drink. Its an absolutely fascinating chemical and cultural phenomenon. It’s ancient, it’s rooted firmly in the human cultural mythos, and it continues to evolve in new and intriguing ways. Even if you don’t want to drink the stuff, you can still enjoy the wonderful science of winemaking, or find hours of pleasure in the drink’s incredible history. If you do want to drink it, it doesn’t exactly hurt that it’s delicious as well…