Vitamin E, flavonoids, antioxidants and other compounds have always given grapes their nutritional power. Even the ancient Greek philosophers once recognized and valued the healing properties of wine. Today, scientists are discovering that grapes may have the ability to help treat a wide variety of diseases. Much of this ability comes from antioxidants, such as resveratrol, which is found in California pinot noir and other wines.
Antioxidants
Antioxidants are a class of unique molecules that have the capacity to clean up cellular damage incurred from the stressful processes of energy production and metabolism. Some common nutrients, such as vitamin C and vitamin E, also double as antioxidants. Resveratrol is a non-essential compound that works as an antioxidant but may have other mechanisms of action. Researchers have found resveratrol to improve lifespan, age-related degeneration, cancer prevention and cardioprotective effects, mostly in animals and tissue samples, with some limited success. However, the debate surrounding resveratrol is far from settled. Researchers need to study its effects on humans before some of the more extravagant claims are proven.
Resveratrol Content
California pinot noir comes from the pinot noir black grape that grows in California. Kenneth D. McMurtrey, a professor with the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Southern Mississippi, determined that the California pinot noir contained 8.7 parts per million resveratrol, which is equal to 8.7 mg/L. However, the precise content depends upon the growing conditions. Rainfall during fruit development appears to result in higher extractable amounts of resveratrol, which is present mostly in the skin of the grape.
Comparisons to Other Wines
A typical pinot noir is a difficult grape to grow and susceptible to rot, but it also renders up to 40 times as much resveratrol as other grapes such as merlot and cabernet sauvignon. However, Californian pinot noire isn't quite as rich in resveratrol as a few other wines made from similar grapes. The highest resveratrol content found in wine comes from the fleur de pinot noir, which contains four times as much as the closest Californian variety.
Choosing Wines
Cornell researcher Leroy Creasy suggests choosing a variety of pinot noir --- not just the pinot noir grown in California --- that comes from humid climates and is made with traditional European methods in order to fully maximize resveratrol intake. Unfortunately, the resveratrol within California pinot noir tends to degrade within a day after you've uncorked the bottle, so you should choose carefully the time and place to drink it.
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