Taken in moderation, wine is good for your heart’s health. Wine contains antioxidants that prevent coronary artery complications thus averting a heart attack. However, you need to choose your wine carefully because not all types of wines offer the same health benefits. So, what is the healthiest wine to drink?
9 Types of Healthy Wines to Drink
For thousands of years, wine has been considered one of the healthiest alcoholic drinks in the world, with many medical experts recommending it for a healthy heart. In the recent past, studies have shown that wine, especially red wine, can offer real health benefits when taken in moderation. Some of the main health benefits of drinking red wine include low blood pressure, low cholesterol levels, increased lifespan, and better heart health.
Red wine is rich in polyphenols – organic compounds found in many plant-based ingredients. When you ingest these compounds, they are converted into antioxidants that attack free radicals to slow down the deterioration of your cells. This slows down the aging process, keeping you feeling and looking young for many years.
Free radicals are also responsible for many other health problems and chronic medical conditions like cancer and heart complications. Red wine contains two major types of polyphenols: procyanidins and resveratrol. These two organic compounds are known to offer numerous health benefits.
They’ll reduce inflammations in your body and elevate the levels of good cholesterol in your body while suppressing the bad cholesterol for better heart health. The question that most wine lovers ask is: How much red wine should I drink to enjoy these health benefits? The answer is a maximum of two glasses of wine a day for men and one glass a day for women. That amount of red wine is enough to protect you fully.
But does this mean that all types of red wines will offer you these health benefits? Not necessarily because not all red wines are the same. Generally, red wines that have taken longer to ferment are known to offer more health benefits than those that take shorter fermentation periods.
Fermentation of wine helps to lower its sugar content while enhancing its aromatic and fruity flavors. Additionally, red wines produced using thick-skinned grapes offer more health benefits than those made from thin-skinned grapes. Thick-skinned grapes have tannins that offer supplementary health benefits.
Although these red wines don’t taste as sweet as their thin-skinned alternatives, they will offer you tremendous health benefits. If you aren’t sure about which types of wines can give you enough health benefits, here’s a list of the healthiest wines in the market today.
1. Barbera
Barbera is a popular red wine that is made from Italian wine grapes. This variety of grapes was once the third-most planted red grape variety in Italy. It’s known for its high-quality yields and deep color.
Many vineyards in Italy still grow these century-old vines and promote the production of long-maturing, healthy red wines with powerful fruit and enriched tannic content. In their early stages of development, these wines produce a very strong scent of fresh blackberries and red cherries. Most wineries producing Barbera wine use toasted oak barrels that allow increased complexity and aging potential, giving the final product additional health benefits.
2. Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon is recognized globally as one of the most popular varieties of red wine grapes, which is commonly grown in Australia, British Columbia, Canada, and Lebanon, among other regions with diverse climates. It became popular through its top status in Bordeaux wines, where it was usually mixed with Merlot and Cabernet Franc. It was first grown in France and later spread across Europe and other parts of the world.
You can now find it in vineyards in places like California, New Zealand, Chile, and many other countries. This variety of wine grapes has a thick skin and its vines are generally low yielding. They are highly resistant to viticulture hazards like insects and rot. Cabernet Sauvignon wine grapes have a very powerful flavor and are very rich in tannins.
3. Cannonau
This type of red wine is made from French wine grapes that are grown on Sardinia Island. This variety of wine grapes has a very thick skin and is rich in tannins. Therefore, it will provide your body with enough antioxidants to fight free radicals that cause premature aging and serious health conditions, including cancer and heart disease.
Also known as Grenache or Garnacha, Cannonau is one of the world’s most popular red wine grape varieties. It takes longer to ripen and it thrives in hot, dry weather conditions. That’s why it is very common in Spain, where it most likely originated.
This variety of wine grapes is also grown in many other parts of the world, including Italy, south France, the United States, and Australia, among others. It’s quite spicy and flavorful, with a berry-like taste, and very soft on the palate. This wine grape variety is known to produce wine with higher alcohol content than other similar varieties.
4. Malbec
Also referred to as Auxerrois, or Cot, Malbec is a purple variety of wine grapes that produce high-quality red wine. It has an inky dark color and robust tannins that help your body to fight off free radicals so that you can continue to feel and look young for many years. It is also among the six varieties of wine grapes used in blending red Bordeaux wine in France.
While this grape variety is grown in different parts of the world, it’s primarily found in France, particularly in Cahors, Southwest France. It is also widely regarded as an Argentine varietal. Previously, wineries in France blended Malbec with other varieties like Merlot and Tannat, but many of them are now producing 100 percent Malbec varietal wines.
5. Merlot
Also known as Langon or Picard, Merlot is a dark blue wine grape variety used in the production of red wine. Its name “Merlot” is believed to have emanated from the word “merie”, the French name for a blackbird. This name is presumably about the color of the grape.
It’s a highly flexible variety of wine grapes. It’s one of the six varieties of grapes used in the production of Bordeaux wine. Additionally, it’s the most planted variety of wine grapes in the Bordeaux region. This flexibility also makes it one of the most planted varieties in the world.
6. Nebbiolo
This is a type of wine grape that is commonly used to produce red wine. This red wine from Piedmont is very rich in procyanidins, which offer a range of chemopreventive organic effects. This variety of wine grapes has a very intense fruity flavor. It also has melatonin to help you sleep well.
7. Pinot Noir
Pinot Noir is a popular variety of red wine grapes of the species Vitis vinifera. It also refers to wines produced mainly from pinot noir grapes. This name is derived from two French words: pine and black.
This grape variety is known for its tightly gathered pinecone-shaped clusters of fruit. It is considered to be one of the healthiest wines due to its high levels of resveratrol. Although it’s thin-skinned, this grape variety has low amounts of sugar and few calories.
8. Sagrantino
This is an Italian variety of wine grapes that is predominantly grown in the region of Umbria in Central Italy. The grape variety is commonly planted in vineyards within Montefalco village and the surrounding areas. This grape variety is known for its vigorous, disease-resistant nature.
It’s a low-yielding grape variety that flowers early and takes a long time to ripen. Sagrantino has a fairly thick skin and produces small tightly clustered, conical-winged bunches of fruit. It’s rich in antioxidants and tannins.
9. Tannat
This red wine grape variety was historically planted in South West France, particularly in the Madiran AOC region. But today it’s one of the most planted grape varieties in the world. You can find it in Uruguan vineyards and other parts of the world.
It’s a full-bodied wine grape variety with high levels of tannins and procyanidin. Tannat is also known for its soft fruity flavor.