According to British scientists when it comes to the health benefits of red wine, the good old French or Italian reds are by far the best option.
The researchers say the traditional red wines from the vineyards of France and Italy are the best at protecting the heart, because reds from these two particular regions contain the highest concentrations of 'oligomeric procyanidins', the antioxidants which contribute to cardiovascular health.
It seems the wines from the Nuoro province in Sardinia, and the Gers area in the foothills of the Pyrenees, are particularly rich in chemicals called polyphenols and contain as much as 10 times more of the beneficial compounds than alternatives from Australia, South Africa and the United States.
Numerous studies over recent years have firmly established that a glass or two of red wine a day is good for the heart, and moderate drinkers are thought to be less likely to suffer from heart disease than those who abstain.
Also the regular consumption of red wine is regarded as an important element in the "Mediterranean diet", which is thought to explain the greater longevity of people living in southern Europe.
The benefits of diets such as the Mediterranean one are derived to some extent from a group of antioxidant chemicals called polyphenols, which protect the condition of the blood vessels.
Polyphenols are found in dark chocolate, apples and cranberries, and tea and coffee.
The researchers have identified a particular group of polyphenols, known as oligomeric procyanidins, which they believe offer the greatest degree of protection to human blood-vessel cells.
Procyanadins suppress production of endothelin-1, a protein that constricts blood vessels, and armed with this knowledge, the researchers set out to establish whether wines from any particular regions were especially rich in procyanidins.
They exposed cultured human blood vessel cells to 165 different wines to identify the polyphenols with most potent effects on blood vessels.
The team, led by Professor Roger Corder of
According to British scientists when it comes to the health benefits of red wine, the good old French or Italian reds are by far the best option.
and Professor Alan Crozier of the
antioxidant, discovered that reds from Nuoro, such as Cannonau, and from Gers, such as Madiran, were found to have between two and four times more procyanidins than other red wines.
They also had the greatest effect on endothelin-1 production in the laboratory.
This has possibly had an effect on the wider health of the local populations as both regions were selected for testing because of census data showing that they have above-average longevity, particularly for men.