April 7, 2007

Wine News: Choose the right red wine for a healthy heart

We're told that a glass of wine a day keeps the heart healthy. But boozers beware - not just any old plonk will do. Jeremy Laurance reports
If you plan to visit France this summer, be sure to try a bottle or two of Madiran. The appellation, which is just within sight of the Pyrenees, produces what may be the healthiest wine in the world. Madiran, made with at least 40 per cent tannat grapes, is deep purple, tannic and delicious with a bowl of hearty vegetable soup. And its levels of a plant chemical that is essential for heart health are among the highest of any wine.

Madiran wine can be bought in Britain through a few specialist merchants, but it is generally regarded as too tannic for we British, who are more accustomed to the highly processed, over-sweet, easy-drinking wines of the New World.

Full article here.