Interesting Facts

A substance found in red wine can help keep the brain young in a similar way to exercise and a low-calorie diet, scientists have discovered. Resveratrol, which occurs naturally in the skin of fruits including grapes, blueberries and mulberries, can keep muscles supple and help protect connections between neurons in the brain, according to researchers at Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute . Tests on elderly mice showed the compound significantly slowed brain ageing by preserving synapses called neuromuscular junctions, which relay movement signals from the brain to the muscles.  Mice who had been given resveratrol from one year of age had more youthful neuromuscular junction synapses at two years old than those who had not. “I believe that we are getting closer to tapping into mechanisms to slow age-induced degeneration of neuronal circuits,” said the study’s primary author, assistant professor Gregorio Valdez.  Source  - Independent

According to wine expert Jancis Robinson, author of The 24 Hour Wine Expert, any open bottle of wine – even a red – should be kept in the fridge. (Seemingly the old adage of serving red wine at "room temperature" was coined before the advent of central heating. Nowadays room temperature tends to be too warm, and we are drinking tepid red wine. According to the experts, refrigerating lighter reds such as beaujolais and pinot noir brings out all their fresh fruit flavours, and full-bodied reds such as cabernet sauvignon, shiraz and malbec benefit from being served cooler (around 17 or 18°C). Of course, it's unlikely we have any left in the bottle to store, but I'm going to try out this advice this weekend. ) 

According to a survey carried out at the Edinburgh International Science Festival by Richard Wiseman, a psychologist at Hertfordshire University, found that expensive wine and cheap plonk taste the same to most people. (The researchers categorised inexpensive wines as costing £5 and less, while expensive bottles were £10 and more.  In the survey, 578 (lucky) people tasted a variety of red and white wines ranging from a £3.49 bottle of claret to a £29.99 bottle of champagne.   The study found that people correctly distinguished between cheap and expensive white wines only 53% of the time, and only 47% of the time for red wines. The overall result suggests a 50:50 chance of identifying a wine as expensive or cheap based on taste alone – the same odds as flipping a coin. So, an expensive wine may well have a full body, a delicate nose and good legs (wine buffs really do speak like this), but the odds are your brain will never know.)

According to a study carried out by Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh for Chilean wine company Montes, choosing the right background music could be crucial to getting the most out wine. (Professor Adrian North, who led the research, explained that when a powerful piece of music such as O Fortuna from Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana is played, a wine like Montes Alpha Cabernet Sauvignon is perceived as being 60% richer and more robust than when no music is heard. Similarly, a style like Montes Alpha Chardonnay seemed 40% bolder and fresher when accompanied by pop. Montes' recommended wine and music matches Cabernet Sauvignon: All Along The Watchtower (Jimi Hendrix), Honky Tonk Woman (Rolling Stones), Live And Let Die (Paul McCartney and Wings), Won't Get Fooled Again (The Who) Chardonnay: Atomic (Blondie), Rock DJ (Robbie Williams), What's Love Got To Do With It (Tina Turner), Spinning Around (Kylie Minogue) Syrah: Nessun Dorma (Puccini), Orinoco Flow (Enya), Chario...

The Pinot Noir grape, used to make some excellent red wines, has about 30,000 genes in its DNA. (That's more than the human genome, which contains 20,000 to 25,000 genes. I do hope they never prove a link between intelligence and the number of genes, otherwise I have broken my own cardinal rule - never eat anything that might be more intelligent than you are.)

According to research from the Johannes Gutenberg University, white wine is bad for your teeth. (Their studies found that white wine is acidic, and it erodes the calcium in teeth. Riesling wines tended to have the greatest impact, having the lowest pH. Luckily, my preferred tipple, red wine, isn't as acidic.)