AJA Vineyards
So I went to the doctor today to get my wrists checked. Crawling up the vineyards (they’re very steep) and manning the home bar hasn’t been so helpful to them.
We spoke about wine, as he always asks me how business is going. We stumbled upon the topic of health and wine which lead us to talk about an antioxidant called resveratrol found in the skins of grapes.
Now we’ve all heard the saying, wine’s good for you because it’s got antioxidants…but I bet, until you read this, you didn’t believe it!
According to the Mayo Clinic, resveratrol is a polyphenol antioxidant that helps protect the lining of the blood vessels in your heart. They also stated that resveratrol in many cases helped increase levels of HDL which is the “good cholesterol” in patients.
You’re probably thinking: So I can drink all kinds of wines and need to buy more? Sure, you can! But the health benefits are found more so in the red wines and some rosés. The reason for this is because of winemaking!
To make red wines, we soak (macerate) the grape juice on its skins throughout fermentation. As the wine ferments and soaks in the skins, it extracts color and tannin. As the wine extracts the color, within the color it extracts the many proteins and health benefits that are embedded in the skins! This includes resveratol.
To make a white wine, often times the juice is pressed directly off the skins with minimal contact to decrease the chance of changing the color. With this method, you will not be using the skins, and therefore there will be less resveratrol imparted in the wines.
After chatting with Dr. Cohen about the importance of resveratrol. He then mentioned to me that he was told Pinot Noir grapes have the most amount of resveratrol. And that’s true, they do have a lot of resveratrol. But mostly you can count on the varieties that have the thickest skins to be packing with resveratrol and polyphenols (both great for lowering cholesterol and for heart health). Some of these varietals include Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Petit Sirah, and Malbec (in our blend coming soon!).
I then mentioned to him a little about the procedures we have here on property. Our wines are vegan, mostly organic and paleo friendly! We use minimal amount of sulfites only when needed (or else our wine wouldn’t have a shelf life). We also try to have as little residual sugar (RS) as possible. The goal is to have 0% RS and have a completely dry wine. That way your calories are from the alcohol and not excess sugar.
So what’s next for you?
Utilize this information to shop wiser and incorporate wine into your life style. This is not a marketing ploy to tell you buy more AJA wine because it’s good for you. This is simply me, Amanda Greenbaum, trying to explain to you the health benefits of a 5oz glass of red wine a few times a week. And 5oz 3 times a week, is just short of a bottle!
Cheers and Happy Wine Wednesday!
Amanda