Wine means different things to different people. Whilst wine used to be a treasured commodity enjoyed only by the elite and those of high culture, over the years, as production methods were refined, wine became more and more accessible to the common folk. From ancient to modern times, wine has evolved into a key part of our contemporary lives, playing an important role in festive celebrations as well as a part of religious ceremonies.
The role of wine in our lives has changed over the past 40 years, and even over the past 10 years. As the world becomes knowledgeable, more and more people are enjoying the ?wine lifestyle?. In other words, wine is not just what you drink with dinner ? it is, in fact, a way of life. Wine enriches our lives, mixing perfectly with food, friends, and social occasions. Consumers use wine in very sophisticated ways via purchasing, gifting and consumption. Social interaction with wine varies significantly, dependant upon occasion and environment. Wine is essential for every celebration. Wine gives you a warm feeling and makes you sing when you speak and dance when you walk. A party is as incomplete without wine as it is without music. Wine can ?break the ice? and transform a meeting into a social gathering, thus making it a perfect companion at most business lunches or special occasions. Wines are great to celebrate the joy of birthdays and wedding s, and they multiply the festivities of the holiday season. A glass of wine completes a meal feast and warms up a cold winter?s night. Wine also brings out the romance of Valentine?s Day, and is an ideal anniversary present. Alcohol, when consumed in moderate amounts (such as half bottle of 12% wine a day), stimulates the areas of the brain related to thinking and pleasure-seeking. It also relaxes the body and increases the processing speed of brain areas related to speech and movement, lowering inhibitions. This overall makes you feel more confident, at ease and happier.
As an enduring cultural symbol of European living, the role of wine has evolved over time, changing from an important source of nutrition to a cultural complement to food and conviviality compatible with a healthy lifestyle. Traditionally, most European cultures tend to associate wine with gastronomy, history, local quality products and dignified social settings. As such, the association of wine as a part of a European identity also promotes moderate consumption by adults as an integral part of a balanced diet.
However responsible wine consumption must include a common stakeholder commitment to ensuring that moderate drinking remains the social norm. The benefits of moderate drinking have been recognized for centuries. Traditionally, wine has been enjoyed with meals and has been known to aid the digestive process, stimulate the intake of nutrients, and more recently, assist in lowering cholesterol and contributing to the maintenance of a healthy heart. While the European Mediterranean region accounts for the highest alcohol consumption per capita, drinking patterns that pose fewer health risks have been observed and this is attributed to the lifestyle of these regions, which have wine drinking primarily consumed at home and restaurants with meals ? not in bars, and not without food. The vast majority of people who drink wine do so in moderation and responsibly.
Over the past 30 years, hundreds of scientific studies throughout the world, involving more than one million people, have suggested that moderate wine consumption can extend life expectancy by several years beyond that of non-drinkers, assist in protecting against various types of heart disease and cancers, and delay or reduce the risk of developing a range of other diseases. There are elements in the wine, such as resveratrol, which break down LDL or "bad" cholesterol that sticks to artery walls causing blockages, and turns it into HDL or "good" cholesterol that could be carried away by the blood. This reduction in LDLs lowers the chances for arteriosclerosis and actually reduces the pressure needed for the heart to circulate blood. Several studies have confirmed these findings and all indications are that moderate consumption of wine (one to two glasses a day) can have significant health benefits.
Consequently, there is sufficient evidence from several sources and various public health authorities which supports the health benefits of moderate wine consumption, in particular its:
. Contribution in the reduction of rates of blood clotting/coagulation
. Reduced risk of a second heart attack
. Increase of the amount of ?good? cholesterol (HDL)
. Decrease in the amount of ?bad? cholesterol (LDL)
. Prevention of the production of compounds responsible for the inflammation associated with arthritis and rheumatism
. Reduction of certain kinds of cancers
Interestingly, however, a large section of the population (80%) worldwide still does not drink wine as part of their diet. There appear to be several reasons. Among them:
1. Unfortunately, some ?expert snobs? out there seem to want to make it difficult to the uninvolved consumer to understand what wine is about. They use strange words and phrases that can definitely be off-putting. We have all seen or heard the stereotype ?Wine Expert? with his nose in the air, acting as if he were the only person qualified to speak.
2. Figuring out which wine goes with what food can be a challenge but it can also create all kinds of fears.
3. Consumers are confused by wine complex labels resulting from different regional legal systems, which may include terms that could be perceived as misleading.
4. The number of wine brands that exist can be quite overwhelming, so consumers need assistance to help navigate this universe. They could worry about overpaying for an inferior wine that they might blindly select from the local wine shop, therefore making the purchase an uninviting task.
5. Consumers are also confused by conflicting reports and information given by ?experts? and the media about a number of wine aspects such as Old World, New World, countries of origin, brands, producers, varietals, classifications, organic, natural, vintage, grand cru, wine serving rituals, etc.
French wine philosopher Pierre Boisset once said:
?Wine is at the same time simpler than people say and more complex than they think.?
So what does the reasonable, perfectly balanced person need to know?
First, we need to be at peace with the notion that wine is such a complex, dynamic subject; no one can know it all. The vast majority of wine consumers just want to buy a bottle of wine they will enjoy, unlike the wine lovers who are definitely involved with wine and can discuss terroir, malolactic fermentation, the ageing, the different types of wine, the winemaking process, the grapes, the soil, the weather and food pairings for hours. It is true that wine is not one thing, but many. Wine is a sophisticated, complex drink, but it can nonetheless be enjoyed by anyone. Novice wine consumers have just as good taste buds as wine experts. Wine should be an enjoyable experience. If a wine tastes good and smells good, there is a 98% chance that it IS good.
The most important rule about food and wine matching is that there are no rules. You can drink any wine you wish with any food ? even red wine with fish ? and the world will continue to revolve. However, to be able to select a wine you do not have to swallow an encyclopaedia, but you do need to have some basic knowledge, follow a few clear, simple rules and above all. trust your own palate. The following tips may help you to make the right choice:
1. Not all good wines are expensive, and conversely, all expensive wines are not necessarily good. In each price-range, there are good and bad wines. It is true, however, that expensive good wines will probably be as good as or better than less expensive good wines. You have to remember that wine prices are a factor of the winemaker?s marketing efforts, not always the quality of the wine.
2. A good wine shop or winery will have a bottle open and will allow you to taste a wine, for free, that you probably have never had before. An experienced assistant can tell what you like by your reaction to the wines and can recommend more options.
3. While it is true that specific regions in certain countries have a reputation of producing the best of a particular grape, rarely is one region the only place a grape is grown. Winemaking is a craft. Winemakers are sometimes good at it and sometimes not. The grapes are not always the determining factor in the production of good wine. You should try wines from all over the world to see how for example a Cabernet or a Shiraz tastes from California , Italy , France , Spain , Australia , Chile or Cyprus and, of course, compare value for money.
4. Read articles about wines. Continue searching for new wines. Ask people who drink wine for their recommendations, taste and discuss their merits with your circle of friends, and try to find wines that are widely accepted to be good.
Over the last two decades, the most obvious change worldwide in drinking habits has been the move to wine drinking. This trend is expected to continue over the next few years because wine is increasingly being chosen as an accompaniment to meals in restaurants, and at home when all the family dine together. Drinking like any social activity has some guidelines to help the participant get more enjoyment out of the activity.
Drink slowly, and take the time to savour the wine?s distinctive taste. Regular consumption of small amounts of wine is preferable to binge-drinking large amounts on a single occasion. Remember not to exceed the guidelines for moderate, low-risk consumption of alcoholic beverages.
As with other products that have the potential to be abused, there are health and social costs associated with wine misuse, including the cost of alcohol-related accidents and socially inappropriate behaviours. Repeated heavy drinking with the purpose of getting drunk will not provide more benefits, only more harm. Your health can benefit from the moderate consumption of wine as part of an overall healthy lifestyle, just as it could suffer from its abuse. The complex flavours of wine can be fully appreciated and enjoyed only by drinking wine moderately and slowly. The following are some hints to help you drink responsibly and derive more enjoyment and pleasure from drinking if you choose to consume wine.
1. The consumption of wine by healthy adults should be sensible. Moderate drinking is approximately up to two drink units (two 155 ml (5-ounce) glasses) a day for women, up to three drink units a day for men, and no more than four drink units on any one occasion.
Alcoholic Units = Alc x Litres
125ml 175ml 250ml 750ml
11% Alc Wine 1.4 units 1.9 units 2.8 units 8.3 units
12% Alc Wine 1.5 units 2.1 units 3.0 units 9.0 units
13% Alc Wine 1.6 units 2.3 units 3.3 units 9.8 units
14% Alc Wine 1.8 units 2.5 units 3.5 units 3.5 units
2. Wine should be consumed as a part of social, family, celebratory, or other occasion, but not as the only purpose of the event. However if the occasion is restricted to drinks only, then it is a good idea to eat a decent meal before you go out, or snack while you drink. Food helps absorb alcohol and so limits how quickly it will get into your bloodstream. It will also give you more energy to enjoy yourself! It is particularly good to eat high protein foods such as cheese, which help to slow the absorption of alcohol into the circulatory system. Mediterranean culture consumes alcohol only with food to prevent various problems.
3. When selecting a wine, choose quality rather than quantity. Learn to select fine wines, and pay particular attention to which type of wine matches a particular dish. Learn what to look for ? this makes everyday wine drinking much more enjoyable.
4. Wine drinkers should know the distinction between moderate use and abuse.
5. Wine and alcohol should be avoided in certain circumstances such as during pregnancy, when taking certain medications, when working with machinery or where it puts the individual or others at risk. Use alcohol carefully in connection with other drugs. This includes over-the-counter purchases such as sleeping pills and cold or cough medicines. Alcohol should be avoided while taking certain antibiotics, arthritic drugs, anti-depressants and many other prescriptions. Check with your physician or pharmacy before you drink while on any medication.
6. Know your limit on how much wine and alcohol you can handle without losing control.
Most people know that no more than a drink or two an hour will keep them in control of the situation and avoid drunkenness. The strength of a drink varies dramatically, depending on what you are drinking. So make sure you know how many units are in your drink. A 750ml bottle of table wine (12% vol) has eight to nine units.
7. Make sure that drinking improves social relationships, rather than impairing them through inappropriate behaviours.
8. Wine should be consumed slowly to enhance the taste of food and to add to the enjoyment of everyday living. If you drink quickly a glass of wine for the alcohol effect, you are losing the pleasure of drinking, namely tasting and smelling the various flavours. This is particularly true for fine wine.
9. Society and parents must take a more active role in teaching young people about responsible drinking customs so they are prepared to make informed choices. Parents who drink should drink sensibly, presenting themselves as examples of moderation. Underage people should not be encouraged to drink.
10. Keep yourself hydrated. Drink water regularly whilst you?re out drinking and also when you get home, and try alternating each alcoholic drink with a glass of water. Both are good ways of cutting down your chances of a hangover.
11. When drinking wine, go for a small or medium glass instead of a large. Many people do not realise that there can be over three units in a large glass of wine!
12. Avoid drinking if you drive and ? in any case ? never exceed the Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) limits legally established for drivers. Make sure everyone can get home safely with a driver, who specifically avoided drinking or use reliable public transport or a taxi ? especially if you think someone?s had too much and they are over the drink/drive limit.
As the wine revolution gains even more ground and more studies are performed, the benefits of wine may continue to be increasingly known, pouring good health on all who consume it. Drinking a moderate amount of alcohol will not do you any physical or psychological harm. However, the total picture is complex and both the costs and the benefits are not easy to quantify. It is difficult to lay down strict guidelines as to what constitutes ?moderate consumption?. It will depend on your age, size, sex and health, how and when you consume alcohol, as both the speed of consumption and whether you?re eating will affect how alcohol is absorbed by the body. For some people, social drinking can lead to heavier drinking, which can cause serious health problems. If consumed in excess, alcoholic beverages increase the exposure to a wide range of risk factors whereby the risk rises with the amount of alcohol consumed. Thus, it is crucial to prevent abusive consumption and the wine sector is committed to doing so. Any measures taken to prevent wine abuse should not punish millions of wine lovers who drink sensibly and benefit from moderate drinking. Manufacturers and retailers, governments, local and health authorities, health professionals and interested citizen groups should all work together to find common ground and ways of promoting responsible behaviour, so that you never have to feel sorry for what has happened while you were drinking.
Please note: Nothing in this article should be construed as individual medical advice. For specific recommendations regarding alcohol consumption, consult your physician.
Wine News and Information
. During the 58th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Enology and Viticulture, two of speakers presented the results of their research on electronic nose evaluation of grapes and wine. Ahmad Athamneh, of Virginia Polytechnic Institute, remarked: ?Choosing harvest dates is one of the most critical decisions made by winemakers?. Conventional testing methods for maturity, however, are not always reliable. ?There?s a need for an optimum technique for evaluating maturity,? he said.
Athamneh and his team used an electronic device called the Cyranose 320 ? a polymer-based system small enough to be used in the vineyard ? to compare results with those obtained through traditional testing methods, including Brix and pH measurement.
The Cyranose uses 32 sensors, each with different sensitivity to different aromas, to evaluate maturity with a single measurement. Athamneh tested it in 2005 and 2006 as a tool to quickly evaluate Cabernet Sauvignon grapes for maturity and found that, ?The results demonstrate the superiority of the e-nose over conventional methods?. Among the device?s advantages, he concluded, is the fact that it is faster, more economical and less destructive than conventional testing methods. With partial funding from the Virginia Wine Board, Athamneh plans to continue his research, expanding it to additional cultivars.
. Amalia Berna, of CSIRO Food Futures Flagship in Australia , gave a second e-nose presentation. Her goals were to predict the quality of wine, and to detect contaminants and off-flavours at an early stage. The device used was the AlphaMos Fox 3000, which was tested on samples from five different regions in Australia with varying climates. Berna?s research compared gas chromatography/mass spectrometry with the e-nose, which showed good results in identifying volatile compounds in Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. She found that the e-nose gave ?excellent predictions? for hot climate regions, but misclassified some mild-climate samples.
. As wine consumption in the United States reached an all-time high in 2007, wine producers celebrated the long-awaited arrival of a ?wine culture? in America . However, according to an 18-month study commissioned by Constellation Wines U.S., a large segment of the consumer population is still ?overwhelmed? by wine. The new study examined the purchases of 10,000 premium-wine consumers ? defined as those who purchased wine priced at $5 and higher ? over an 18-month period.
The study measured consumer attitudes and purchase behaviour within multiple purchase channels, including warehouse clubs, supermarkets, mass merchandisers, drug stores, liquor stores and wine shops. The scan data were supplemented with online interviews. Consumers were classified in segments such as: Enthusiasts, Image Seekers, Savvy Shoppers, Traditionalists, Satisfied Sippers and Overwhelmed and the following results were recorded:
Overwhelmed (23% of consumers)
* Overwhelmed by sheer volume of choices on store shelves
* Like to drink wine, but do not know what kind to buy and may select by label
* Looking for wine information in retail settings that?s easy to understand
* Open to advice, but frustrated when there is no one in the wine section to help
* If information is confusing, they will not buy anything at all.
Image Seekers (20% of consumers)
* View wine as a status symbol
* Are just discovering wine and have a basic knowledge of it
* Like to be the first to try a new wine, and are open to innovative packaging
* Prefer Merlot as their No. 1 most-purchased variety
* Use the Internet as key information source, including checking restaurant wine lists before dining out so they can research scores
Traditionalist (16% of consumers)
* Enjoy wines from established wineries
* Think wine makes an occasion more formal, and prefer entertaining friends and family at home to going out
* Like to be offered a wide variety of well-known national brands
* Won?t often try new wine brands
* Shop at retail locations that make it easy to find favourite brands.
Savvy Shoppers (15% of consumers)
* Enjoy shopping for wine and discovering new varietals on their own
* Have a few favourite wines to supplement new discoveries
* Shop in a variety of stores each week to find best deals, and like specials and discounts
* Are heavy coupon users, and know what?s on sale before they walk into a store
* Typically buy a glass of the house wine when dining out, due to the value.
Satisfied Sippers (14% of consumers)
* Don?t know much about wine, just know what they like to drink
* Typically buy the same brand ? usually domestic ? and consider wine an everyday beverage
* Don?t enjoy the wine-buying experience, so buy 1.5L bottles to have more wine on hand
* Second-largest category of warehouse shoppers, buying 16% of their wine in club stores
* Don?t worry about wine and food pairing
* Don?t dine out often, but likely to order the house wine when they do.
Enthusiasts (12% of consumers)
* Entertain at home with friends, and consider themselves knowledgeable about wine
* Live in cosmopolitan centres, affluent suburban spreads or comfortable country settings
* Like to browse the wine publications, and are influenced by wine ratings and reviews
* 47% buy wine in 1.5L size as ?everyday wine? to supplement their ?weekend wine?
* 98% buy wine over $6 per bottle, which accounts for 56% on a volume basis.
With the highest percentage of consumers falling into the ?overwhelmed? category, Leslie Joseph, Constellation?s vice president of consumer research affairs, commented: ?We need to do a better job as an industry of helping these people understand what a wine?s going to taste like?. Joseph also pointed out that the industry also needs to pay more attention to ?traditionalist? consumers, who tend to prefer established wine brands. ?It?s perhaps not the most exciting segment to be talking about for sommeliers or retailers,? she said, ?but it?s very important to keep these consumers in mind.?
Monolithos Winery News
Farming is a seasonal business. Everything you do during wintertime is dependent on what Mother Nature is going to throw your way. All you can do is react, and organise yourself so that all tasks can be performed and the vineyard is ready for revival at spring.
It is in winter that the yearly cycle begins. The vines have two tasks to complete prior to winter. The first is to store nutrients in the roots and trunk for bud break in spring. The second is to complete the transformation of the tender green skin on this year's growth to hard bark to protect the vine and nascent fruit from freezing winter temperatures. Depending on weather, dormancy may settle sometimes in December and the plants? energy will be moved to the roots to wait for spring.
In winter, wine resembles the vines from which it came: it too is dormant, quietly clarifying, pulling to the bottom the yeast and sediment from the fall winemaking. Slow crystallization of the excess acidity occurs in the chill of winter, a process that softens wine for its future consumption. During November, we transfer (rack) wines from one tank to another and remove the unwanted sediments. We also initiate the blending of our reds, tasting the young whites and preparing for bottling. This time of the year we bring out in the market most of last years red wines which have aged for over six months in the bottles and are now mellow and smooth, ready for consumption.
If at any time you are passing near the village of Pachna and wish to visit the winery or sample any of our wines, Martin Wood will be pleased to meet and assist you at his ?Fig Tree Villa? in Pachna, so do not hesitate to phone him at 25816212 or 99165995.
Regards from all of us here at Monolithos and always remember:
"Wine is like music ? you may not know what is good, but you know what you like!"
Justin Meyer
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