EHA Congress 15th Anniversary - European Hematology Association

Wine and Health
> ‘It’s a naïve domestic Burgundy,
without any breeding, but I think you’ll
be amused by its presumption’. James
Thurber, American humourist.
Chateau Moncontour an inexpensive and beautiful
sparkling wine from Chenin Blanc grapes.
Although wine drinking is a very
pleasurable experience there is no doubt
that a lot of people write and talk rubbish
when discussing it. Apparently it can be
quite off-putting to females at dinner
parties according to Jonathan Nossiter
in his new book, Liquid Memory: why
wine matters’, when sitting beside a lady
who said: ‘Men who speak about wine at
table are instantly condemned….
Conversation about wine is anonymous.
A man isn’t speaking to me when he
speaks about wine. He’s trying to prove
something to me, but it has nothing to do
with conversation. I think to myself: he’s
a little macho shit trying to show off his
power. Talking about wine is unbearably
mediocre’. Well I must remember never
to try chatting up females sitting beside
me at dinner parties by talking about
wine!
Certainly the weather has been unseasonably
cold with lots of snow all over
Europe. Yes it has been great weather
for skiers but you will be glad to hear
that vines also like snow. It melts slowly
and the water sinks deeply into the
ground. The vines will stretch their roots
to fi nd the water in dryer times and this
produces excellent grapes. Harsh winters
also tend to kill off pests which is
helpful at harvest time. The vintage of
2009 was excellent in Tuscany and nearly
all of France. Things are complicated in
Australia with drought and bush fi res so
predictions for the 2009 vintage are not
yet clear. One thing is clear however,
Australia produces too much wine. Supply
exceeds demand by 20%. The forecast
is for surpluses of 100 million cases
of wine which will harm the reputation of
Australian wine and certainly undermine
profi tability. After a year of nearly perfect
weather, wine growers in all 13 German
wine-growing regions are extremely
pleased with the quality of the 2009 crop.
‘This year will go down as a truly great
vintage’ predicted Norbert Weber, President
of the German wine-growers association.
There is good news from a cardiovascular
point of view for Champagne drinkers.
A study from the University of Reading
found that drinking moderate
amounts of Champagne was associated
with increased levels of Nitric Oxide (NO)
and improved arterial function when
compared with controls. The investigators
claimed that this was because
Champagne is made from a mixture of
red (Pinot Noir) and white (Chardonnay)
grapes and therefore may convey the
benefi ts of drinking red wine. Of course
some Champagne is made from Chardonnay
only (blancs de blancs) or from
Pinot Noir exclusively (blancs de noirs)
and I don’t know if drinkers of these
were used as controls. In the meantime
keep up a moderate consumption of
whatever type of Champagne you can afford.
There are lots of other sparkling wines
made from grapes other than chardonnay
and pinot noir. These wines are usually
much cheaper and many like
Prosecco maintain their low price because
secondary fermentation takes
place in the tank and not in the bottle.
The Cava wine from Catalonia is well
known but the sparkling wines from the
Loire are not so popular. See if you can
get your hands (or lips) on some. These
wines are made from Chenin Blanc
grapes and a particularly good bargain is
Chateau Moncontour. This is a beautiful
dry wine and costs less than half the
price of most Champagnes.
Yeasts on the skin of grapes interacting
with the sugar inside make wine. The
eternal discussion has been between using
naturally occurring yeasts or cloned
yeasts. Those who favour cloned yeasts
claim that they are more reliable and always
work. Those who use natural
yeasts say that the special fl avour of
their wines in partly due to the use of
natural yeasts. Wild yeasts tend to be indigenous
to certain regions and although
I have never done a study I always favour
wines made from the naturally occurring
fungi.
Yeasts on the skin interact with sugar to make wine.
Are natural or cloned yeasts the best?
Our American friends love numbers and
classifi cations and apply them to wine.
The Wine Spectator classifi cation gives
10 th place in the world to La Brancaia
Toscana Tre 2007 for about 13 euro. I
thoroughly agree with this as I have
consumed many bottles of this beautiful
and inexpensive wine. I warmly recommend
it.
Ciao for Giovanni
Giovanni Morelli is a Hematologist who shares
his time between Ireland and Tuscany.
EHA Newsletter May 2010 > 17