Dinner with 2003 Bordeaux

One of the fun things about wine is that it's never boring and it never ceases to surprise. Such is the case with the wines from the 2003 Bordeaux vintage. Famous for its record heatwave and the drought that prevailed during most of the growing season, the vintage resulted in crops with very high ripeness levels. Bordeaux has never experienced such a vintage, at least not in a while, and so there has been widespread wonder among producers and consumers alike as to how the wines would turn out.



The 2003 Bordeaux wines have been released for several months now and it is indeed a very fascinating vintage. We hosted a wine dinner last night at a private restaurant in San Mateo, CA, that featured several of the top wines of the vintage. One would think that matching food with these very young, fruit-heavy wines could be problematic. But, as the dinner demonstrated, there was no need for such concern; the wines never overpowered the food and the food pairing was delicious. Why? The simple answer is relatively modest alcohol and good adequate acidity.


The setup team

Many have described the 2003 Bordeaux vintage as a "California" vintage for the kind of ripeness that the vintage achieved. In a sense this is true, as the Bordeaux wines show dense fruit with sweet flavors and soft tannins, or tannins masked by gobs of fruit. But the similarity pretty much stops there. Whereas California Cabernet Sauvignons routinely register 14.5% to 16% alcohol (oftentimes with water already added in), these 2003 Bordeaux wines for the most part have an alcohol range of 13%-13.5%! The other surprising difference of these 2003 Bordeaux wines is that given such a high ripeness level they still maintained adequate acidity so the flavors remained bright and fresh amidst the saturation. From my tastings of the wines and from last night's dinner, I can tell you that 2003 Bordeaux is not really a "California" vintage, or an "Aussie" vintage for that matter. It is a unique vintage; a vintage all to its own.

We started with a white Graves from Carbonnieux, a full, minerally white, with attractive floral aromas and ripe. pomelo grapefruit flavors. The pairing with a delicate fish consommé was brilliant, as the dish brought out the lovely sweetness in the wine.

The second course of grilled quail with quinoa grain in a persimmon sauce was also a delicate dish, yet it was not overpowered by the four big reds that accompanied it. The Clos Manou, a little-known cru bourgeois from the Medoc, held its own against the classed growths it was served with. This overachieving 2003 showed impressive concentration and grip, coating the palate with its powerful and lush blackbbery flavors. A striking contrast to the Smith Haut Lafitte next to it, which showed bright black cherry and red berry flavors, with a distinctive note of coffee and iodine. Truly a seductive wine. Then next to this was the much-praised and talked about Pontet-Canet, a Michel Rolland wine. I've had this wine a few times before and while I regard it as an attractive wine I remain not as overwhelmed by it as other folks. It is dark and muscular and almost jammy at the end. Its main trait is its enormous power and extract, which to me seem forced. The final wine in this flight is the Pichon-Lalande, of which I am a big fan. It is the most atypical and most powerful young Pichon-Lalande that I've ever had. Its trademark floral, sweet, spicy perfume is not evident; instead, it exudes earthy, chocolatey, blackberry jam scents. Dense and fleshy and filled to the brim with extract. Yet, in contrast to the Pontet-Canet, it is relaxed and layered; never really forceful and gradually unfolding. This will be a very long-lived Pichon-Lalande. A Super-Second performance, if not First Growth quality.

The next flight represents the tour de force of the vintage. Leading off are the two superstars of St. Estephe, the commune said to have performed superbly in this vintage: Cos d'Estournel and Montrose. The Cos, even with its dense, concentrated blackberry flavors and long finish, tasted suave and polished. I would have preferred more firmness as it's quite forward in style. The Montrose is equally big and ripe, but it shows more depth and firmness on the mid-palate. Solid concentration. It is beautifully put together and it exhibits the poise and balance of a First Growth.



Finally to the three First Growths. Mouton-Rothschild is truly seductive in this vintage. Tight on the nose, but really sweet and filled with spicy blackberry and raspberry jam flavors. Very good grip as the flavors hang on the palate, yet it doesn't quite have the depth and the expressiveness to put it over the top. Almost the same thing can be said of the Margaux, but it is more solid, really powerful, with great concentration and depth. But it lacks expressiveness and the finish is rough. I feel the extraction went a bit over and resulted in a less than perfect balance. The Lafite-Rothschild exhibits little of these faults. The style is very relaxed and the wine is well-proportioned--it fits like a glove in this unique, challenging vintage. Its complex nose changes from cassis and herbal extracts to toffee, sweet caramel, and butterscotch, then back to more cassis. It is big and powerful, but never forceful. It is spherical in character, with no rough edges. Its finish is long, but not loud, showing the class and elegance of a Frist Growth.



The dessert ending featured what was perhaps the killer food and wine pairing of the evening. Chef Patrick Farjas served his signature vanilla ice cream flavored with candied spicy ginger. The almost cloying, syrupy richness of the young La Tour Blanche pretty much melted with the ice cream resulting in a seamless balance of flavors. The Sauternes' super ripeness tamed by the spicy ginger, brought out the wine's hidden elegance.


Candied Spicy Young Ginger & Tahitian Vanilla Seed Ice Cream


Bordeaux 2003's successful wines are not only attractive for their high ripeness levels, but also for their easy drinkability, especially for drinkers with a more California wine palate. But unlike California Cabernets, these 2003 Bordeaux have more modest alcohol levels and good acidity, which altogether make them very good food wines indeed.


French Master Chef Patrick Farjas and his competent staff



Deliberating the wines at the end of the dinner

P.S. Thank you to all the generous folks who brought wines to share from their cellars. The '95 Margaux is still reverberating on my palate. Thank you, Steve. Ron, you make Michael Broadbent proud with the '85 Figeac. Great call. Andrew, what can I say, '97 Monbousquet! Dennis, what a treat on the 2000 Reignac; it ran with the class growths. And Lenny, I didn't see a drop of the '03 Almaviva by the time the bottle got to me, it must have been Mouton-esque.

Tasting Bordeaux 2004

Bordeaux producers from the Union des Grands Crus hosted a tasting a few weeks ago of their 2004 wines in San Francisco, Chicago, Miami, and New York. Sandwiched between two highly hyped vintages, 2003 and 2005, and the fact that the usual wine critics haven't spent much ink, so far, writing up about this vintage, the Bordeaux producers have wisely seized the task themselves of spreading the joys of their 2004 wines.



There were several hundred wines being tasted, mostly from stellar producers. Though the First Growths were nowhere to be seen and a handful of top tier producers like Ausone, Cheval Blanc, Pavie, and Leoville-Lascases did not make it, many of the best and brightest of Bordeaux these days were pouring their wines.

Overall, it was not a bad vintage. There is much variability in the quality of the wines, but non-Medoc regions like Saint-Emilion, Pomerol, and Graves showed the most consistency. Pauillac and Margaux appear to yield the least amount of exciting wines, which pretty much explains why this vintage is not getting its fair share of hype. I mean, Bordeaux is a huge place, with microclimates in each of its regions. Almost the entirety of Bordeaux can experience a bad vintage, but as long as key estates in Pauillac and Margaux come up with excellent wines one would hear mainly hype about the vintage from the wine media. Such is the prevailing bias. Pauillac and Margaux, Pauillac especially, hold the keys to the market success of the entire region.

From Graves, I like the wines in both colors that the regeion is famous for. In whites, Domaine de Chevalier produced a thrilling white, the best in the tasting, with very good concentration, freshness, and depth. The whites from this venerable estate are usually second only to the whites of Haut-Brion and La Mission Haut-Brion. Smith Haut-Lafitte Blanc showed very good balance and minerality and I liked it a lot. Other wonderful white are the ones from Fieuzal, Larrivet-Haut-Brion, and the little-known Chantegrive. Carbonnieux, whose 2003 blanc is one of the best from that difficult vintage for whites, unfortunately did not excite me this time.

Graves reds showed even more brillaince. This time I was impressed with Carbonnieux. But one of the most impressive was Haut-Bailly--seemingly forward in style because of its excellent balance, it's very classy. Larrivet-Haut-Brion and Smith Haut-Lafitte were also impressive. Both displaying the forward style of this vintage.

In St.-Emilion there is even more to choose from. My favorites include Beau-Sejour Becot, Figeac (stunning!), Clos Fourtet, Pavie-Macquin, Troplong Mondot, Grand Mayne, and the little-known Dassault. But I wasn't too thrilled about Angelus, which I found a bit too extracted for the vintage and trying too hard to please. 2004 is a vintage that rewards wines that are more relaxed in style.

The handful of Pomerol estates in attendance did not disappoint, with both Clinet and Gazin showing very good stuff indeed. But La Conseillante was truly spectacular--very ripe, very sweet; the tannins so rich and velvety.

As I mentioned, Margaux did not perform well, however, at least one that stood out was Du Tertre--it was perfumy, ripe, and intense. Its favored exposure at the top of a hill in Margaux plus the brilliant winemaking really paid off. This is one of the best buys of the vintage.

In Sauternes there is much to like. Rayne Vigneau and Lafaurie-Peyraguey turned out exceptional wines that are rich and layered and supported by good acidity. My top picks, though, are La Tour Blanche and de Fargues.



La Tour Blanche picked brutally as a result of the rain during harvest, leaving as much as 70% of the fruit unpicked. The sacrifice was definitely worth it as the wine showed beautiful sweetness and freshness on the palate, with wonderful length on the finish.

De Fargues, which is a separate estate owned by Yquem, also sorted brutally as the hailstorm destroyed about 60% of the crop. This is a wine with much delicacy and charm; instead of wowing you with richness, whcih it has a good amount of, it also seduces with its finesse and elegance. A marvelous feat.

Surreal World of Napa Cabernet Sauvignon

The world of Napa Cabernet Sauvignons can be surreal. Take the case of the 2004 Levy & McClellan Cabernet Sauvignon, a wine that's breaking all sorts of records (someday some media publication will keep track of esoteric wine stats the way it's done in U.S. professional sports). Meanwhile, the wine blogosphere has been abuzz with this wine and if you happan to have a wine blog yourself you probably shouldn't be caught not posting something about it.

Consider the following:
The 2004 vintage is the first commercial release.
The scheduled release of this first vintage is next year.
It is said that production is set at 300 cases.
Every bottle appears to be already spoken for.
The release price is set at $350/bottle, which appears to be the highest release price of any debut vintage Napa Cabernet, perhaps of any wine on its first release.
No wine critic has even tasted it yet, much less given it a score.
The 6-acre vineyard was planted in 1999, so the 2004 vintage is from 5-year-old vines. This also implies that this piece of land has not produced any wine ever before.
A 3-bottle lot closed at auction today at $2,500.00.

So what is this wine that costs $350 a bottle on its first release, which no one except the proprietor/winemakers has ever tasted, which is already sold out a year before its eventual release, which already sold at auction at over $800/bottle a year before release, and which hundreds, if not thousands, of willing buyers are still begging for an allocation?

Wouldn't you agree with me that the world of Napa Cabernet Sauvignon can be surreal?

A Kistler Chardonnay Vertical

A tasting last month of Kistler Chardonnays encompassing five consecutive vintages was very revealing. It showed that Kistler Chardonnays can age over longer periods than widely believed (well beyond five years from vintage date), and that at least this is true for vintages earlier than 2002.

Vintages 1998 through 2001 have turned to a deep yellow color. Some may frown at this and quickly conclude that it’s a visible sign that the wine has turned. Nonsense. It’s oxidation, alright, which is what aging is about, but it doesn’t mean the wine has expired. On the contrary, the 1998s were still tight, particularly the McCrea Vineyard, while both the Dutton Ranch and Durell Vineyard showed better on the second and third days. No doubt the powerful concentration and high levels of polyphenols of these wines help them achieve long maturities.

Surprisingly, though, the youngest wine of the group, the 2002 Dutton Ranch, was the softest and was immediately drinking well. Has Kistler changed anything in their winemaking approach since 2002?

Russian River Chardonnay “Dutton Ranch”, Kistler 1998
Deep yellow color. Nutty, fruity scents. Round and creamy. Showing more vibrancy on the second and third day, plus more minerality.

Dutton Ranch is in one of the coolest microclimates in Sonoma and planted with 30-year-old vines. Many other wineries produce Dutton wines, but no one equals Kistler.

Sonoma Chardonnay “Durell Vineyard”, Kistler 1998
Softer and more open than the Dutton. Ripe, with lush tropical fruit flavors. It showed more substance on the second day

Located in southwest corner of Sonoma, close to Carneros, Durell Vineyard is planted with old Wente clone taken from the Hyde Vineyard in Carneros. Very low yields and small berries result in intense, forceful Chardonnays.

Sonoma Mountain Chardonnay “McCrea Vineyard”, Kistler 1998
The tightest of the three 1998s. It had no nose at all when opened, though the palate was fruity and fresh and showed the most minerality of the three 1998s. The nose remained closed over the next two days and the flavors retained their freshness.

McCrea Vineyard lies 800 feet on the east-facing slopes of Sonoma Mountain. It’s in a very cool microclimate and grapes ripen slowly here and develop full flavor when harvested. Kistler is responsible for farming this vineyard.

Russian River Chardonnay “Vine Hill Vineyard”, Kistler 1999
The most mineral in the group and, therefore, very well textured. Its color is slightly lighter yellow than the 1998s. Started tight on the palate, but its vibrancy made it at least refreshing. It opened up more the next day. Ripe apricot, citrus flavors and layers of minerals.

This is one of Kistler’s estate vineyards. It was planted in 1988 with low-yielding Chardonnay clone that produces concentrated, multilayered wines.

Russian River Chardonnay “Vine Hill Vineyard”, Kistler 2000
Deep yellow color, somewhere in between the 1998s and the 1999, A bit reticent, but soon opened up to lush, tropical fruit flavors. It remained fresh-tasting over the next two days.

2000 was a relatively cool growing season, perfect for expressive, elegant Chardonnays that are able to mature over a longer period.

Russian River Chardonnay “Dutton Ranch”, Kistler 2001
A fat, rich Chardonnay. Just a bit sweeter than the others, but also just as fresh tasting. The color has turned deep yellow, but it tastes very youthful on the first day. The next day the flavors showed more tropical fruit and nuttiness.

Unquestionably one of the finest Chardonnay vineyards in California, Dutton Ranch experienced a long growing season in 2001 resulting in a juicy, ripe, and full-flavored Chardonnay.

Russian River Chardonnay “Dutton Ranch”, Kistler 2002
Lush, round, soft, and creamy-textured. This was very forward and showed no tightness at all. It drinks very deliciously now. With its softness and low acidity, this is stylistically the most different Chardonnay in the group.

A short growing season with severe heat spikes, the fruit ripened quickly and produced a wine that’s fat and opulent, yet mouthwateringly fresh on the palate.

Boys' Night Out Las Vegas Rendezvous

It was impossible to pass up the opportunity to trek to Las Vegas for a BNO (boys’ night-out) last month. Stephen Marshall, executive chef of the Medici at the Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas, obliged to prepare a special dinner menu to match up with whatever wines we could muster. A consensus, more or less, evolved over the wine theme, and as soon as all the bottles were gathered up and styrofoamed for the airplane check-in, the Vegas affair was afoot



A trio of Champagnes started the evening. Eric uncorked the surprise performer, an unpretentious and somewhat obscure non-vintage Champagne Brut Rosé de Saignée from Duval-Leroy. Duval-Leroy, a venerable estate in Vertus, is one of the few Champagne houses that produce pink Champagne using the traditional saignée method. It’s the long method of making pink wines—instead of simply mixing some red wine to white wine to produce a rosé, Duval-Leroy uses 100% Pinot Noir, macerating the skin with the first-pressed juice for about 24 to 48 hours to allow just enough time for the skin color to “bleed” and produce a wine with a lovely salmon pink hue. This Champagne put out its seductive charms with its baked fruit aromas and rich, mouthfilling flavors of dense fruitcake. Matt detected “almond and almond extract”. It was truly captivating Champagne! At least 3 puffs.




The 1997 Champagne Brut Rosé “Cuvée Alexandra” Laurent-Perrier that followed was more reticent. A deep salmon pink color. On the nose, it smelled as yeasty as baking bread; and after a while in the glass it starts to taste more like Burgundy, deliciously nutty and minerally. It is built to last and with its firm, sturdy character, tastes like it can age another 10 years or more. This 1997 is just the fourth release of this special Champagne as it’s only made in special years. A blend of 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay—all from grand cru vineyards—vinification starts with a short maceration period of the two grapes to extract the color. 3 ½ puffs was the consensus score after considerable deliberation and comparison with the Duval-Leroy.




We drank the 1995 Comtes Blanc de Blancs Taittinger in style, while riding in the limo en route to the restaurant. Serious tasting was not easy as the Champagne sloshed in the glass most of the way. It was quite creamy and the flavors were again reminiscent of a big white Burgundy. Almost brutally dry, mouthfilling and very minerally. This bottle was just way too tight and young. It really needs several more years to mellow as it is quite a brute right now. 3 ½ puffs.




As soon as we settled down around the spacious round chef’s table, the next flight commenced. It was an interesting pair of Corton-Charlemagne from the distant past: 1978 Joseph Drouhin and 1982 Bonneau du Martray.The Bonneau du Martray estate is of course the embodiment of Corton-Charlemagne itself. It’s the giant of the appellation, owning a whopping 9-plus hectares of vineyard, and it’s almost sole production is Corton-Charlemagne (an inconsequential amount of red Corton is also produced). It’s situated on the Pernand side where the character is more mineral and elegant and the wines more long-lived. The 1982 is mature, but still very fresh; tasting of honeyed fruits with hints of citrus/orange. What a brilliant bottle from a so-so Burgundy vintage! It is clearly one of Bonneau du Martray’s best. That after nearly a quarter of a century, this wine can be so fresh-tasting and elegant is proof of the superiority of the Bonneau du Martray terroir. Veteran and novice wine collectors, alike, who focus mainly on “vintages of the century” are missing out and overspending; oftentimes, great wines are produced in unheralded years. Group score is 3 puffs.

How lucky can we get to have not one, but two great Corton-Charlemagne experiences in one night! The 1978 Corton-Charlemagne from Joseph Drouhin was another stellar performer, but it was more reticent. From the get-go it was outclassed by the Bonneau du Martray. But an hour or so later, the Drouhin blossomed and blew us away! Looking back, maybe we should have decanted it. Some experts do recommend decanting aged grand cru white Burgundies, particularly Corton-Charlemagne. At any rate, the two Corton-Charlemagnes couldn’t be more different. Drouhin, a negociant, nevertheless has owned a parcel in Corton-Charlemagne for quite some time, so this is a domaine wine. 1978 was another average, at best, white Burgundy vintage, yet this is one of the great Corton-Charlemagnes from Drouhin. Ha! Ha! Another reason to throw away vintage charts. Tight for a while, but later fragrant with floral, toasted bread scents. This has penetrating depth, very long, vivid, and totally focused. The flavors are just amazingly persistent. Consider the fact that this Chardonnay has evolved for nearly thirty years! Group score is 3 ½ puffs.



Well, on with the reds from this point on. What follows is the main theme of the evening: 1982 Bordeaux. To sort of “cleanse” both our glasses and palates a bottle of 1984 Pichon-Lalande (“glass-coater”, says Steve) was passed around. No one expected much from this lowly bottle, but it more than did its job. A touch earthy and mushroomy, with the familiar Pichon-Lalande floral-sweet cedar-plum scents coming through. Graceful and still weighty on the palate. I’m reminded of what Michael Broadbent wrote about one of his favorite Bordeaux: “certainly fully mature, an easy style of wine, the tannin so noticeable at a tasting bench would be unnoticeable with food; it would merely serve to refresh, leave the mouth clean and dry—an aid to the digestion. That is what good claret is for.”



The first 4 puffer of the evening was the 1982 Pichon-Lalande. This beauty exuded floral, violets, and earthy scents. Very lush, sweet, and somewhat chocolatey. It felt fresh on the palate, with its good acid balance, and the tannins were rich and velvety smooth. Never forceful, but totally persistent in its long finish. It held steady in the glass throughout the evening. What a gloriously harmonious wine! Will it continue to improve? I think that’s a subjective notion. I very much like the way it is right now, mature yet youthfully fresh and energetic. There is no question in my mind that this is at its peak.



A pristine-looking bottle of 1982 Palmer followed next. Let me say first that it is a highly attractive wine for its powerful fruit and robust character. But it remains a puzzler as it is rough-edged and its expression is muddled. There is a lack of the Palmer elegance and, instead, more cru bourgeois. Will it still blossom in later years? Nevertheless, good wine is still good wine, as it adequately accompanied a marvelous plate of medium-rare New York strip venison in a sauce infused with juniper oil extract. 3 puffs.



The 1982 Cos d’Estournel had no hesitation; it opened up immediately as soon as it hit the glass. Mouthfilling, soft, and lush, with flavors of dark chocolate-coated blackberries. It’s almost like a fruit-bomb, soft-centered and lacking grip, yet its energy and liveliness are essentially what still make it so good. It, too, was great with the venison, proving that great producers like Palmer and Cos don’t have to come up with perfect wines to be enjoyable 24 years after the vintage. 3 puffs.



More than any other vintage, 1982 pushed Léoville-Las-Cases to the front ranks of Bordeaux's quality hierarchy and made its name synonymous with the term, “super-second”. Perhaps its greatest success, the 1982 is still backward and evolving, yet the potential is clear. The nose has reached a point of lovely maturity, with its bouquet of tobacco and sweet herbs. On the palate it is already austere and elegant and still backed by excellent concentration of fruit that is very cassis. After an hour or so in the glass, its power is more evident in its firmness and muscular concentration. This is a serious wine, not a drink to trifle with; its character is dry and cerebral, not sensual. 4 puffs.

It’s interesting to observe that the 1982 Mouton-Rothschild is not so dissimilar to the 1982 Léoville-Las-Cases as both are still backward wines and probably another decade till peak. But the Mouton is definitely seductive, with its sweet and spicy cigar box nose; its velvety tannins; and its lush, concentrated flavors of cassis and ripe plums. The sweet flavors stay long on the mid-palate, and then turn austere and elegant on the lengthy finish, with notable freshness and good acid balance. In today’s tendency for low-acid, high alcohol wines, it’s notable that this powerful, long-lived Mouton has 11.5% alcohol! 4 puffs.

In the midst of all these Bordeaux, a 1997 Joseph Phelps Insignia was passed around. To be honest, I failed to take notes on this one and my memory may not do enough justice to it. Suffice it to say that is was still drinking young and it was quite a change from the Bordeaux not just for its more voluminous fruit, but for its sharp minty flavors. A standout Cabernet Sauvignon I’m sure.

This whole dinner affair was undoubtedly exhilarating but quite fatiguing as well. At least four hours had passed from the time we started, and there was one more drink to go and, of course, cigars. We repaired to the outside patio to polish off the decanted 1963 Fonseca Port. The red mahogany-colored liquid was very sweet and velvety. Its fragrant nose recalled preserved plums, chocolate, and cedar. In the mouth it was powerful, aggressive, almost rough, but it caressed with its heady sweet raspberry, earthy, licorice flavors. Very long, sustained finish. An astonishing Port for its power and youth!

"A Good Year" The Movie

(The limestone covered vineyards of Château la Canorgue. Photo courtesy of Beaune Imports)

Getting serious Hollywood heavyweights like Director Ridley Scott and Actor Russell Crowe to do a slapstick film on wine is almost bizarre. Yet, their new movie "A Good Year" is a lot of fun to watch, especially if you approach it like you would a good rosé.

Based on Peter Mayle's book of the same title, the movie tells the tale of a obsessively competitive boy, tutored early on about the charms of wine by his uncle during summers spent at the latter's vineyard in Provence, who grew up to be a greedy, backstabbing monster of an investment banker in the City of London (he calls his minions "lab rats"). From the moment Max Skinner, the investment banker (played by Russell Crowe), received a letter from France informing him about his uncle's death and his impending inheritance, the movie becomes altogether predictable, so you can just sit back and laugh at the run of jokes and hilarious scenes that Ridley Scott stitched together.

Wine buffs would delight in how wine is the catalyst in the movie. No, there is no discussion here of malolactic fermentation or of showing off great trophy wines as in "Sideways". The opening scene sets the tone with the boy Skinner being schooled on the appreciation of wine by his uncle who opens a bottle of 1969 Bandol, Domaine Tempier. The uncle pours a full glass for himself and he cuts the next glass with water for his nephew. Asked by the boy why he likes wine, the uncle explains that "wine is incapable of lying".

But the real star of the movie is the Provençal setting. Much of it was filmed on location at the beautful estate of Château la Canorgue in the Lubéron hills of Provence. Its picturesque Roman villa, with a natural stone swimming pool, overlooking the limestone covered vineyards is stunning.

Enough said. Go see the movie and enjoy!

Uva Cure!

There's been a spate of reports recently about the remarkable healing powers of wine, specifically red wine.

A study by the Mount Sinai School of Medicine found that Cabernet Sauvignon may help cure Alzheimer's disease. It appears that Cabernet Sauvignon stimulates a protein that prevents Alzheimer's from developing. The study was done on mice and not on humans.

Another study, also involving mice, done by the Harvard Medical School and the Naitonal Institute on Aging, showed that large doses of resveratrol, a substance found in red wine, "lowers the rate of diabetes, liver problems and other fat-related ill effects in obese mice", says a New York Times article.

Wow!

These studies certainly appear to be good reasons to keep drinking wine. But I do remember Julia Child's comment on a TV show with Jacques Pepin when they were cooking salmon. Pepin extolled the benefits of Omega-3 found in salmon, to which Child immediately retorted, "but we don't eat salmon for medicine!" Amen