Wine’s Health Benefits Phenolics

Phenols are used by animals and microbes as a defense mechanisms and by plants as protection by stopping biologically active growth inhibitors. Since phenols are developed as a defense mechanism for plants the more stressed the vines are the more phenols the plants will produce.
Anthocyanins are phenolic compounds found throughout the plant kingdom being responsible for the blue to red colors in flowers, fruits and leaves. In grapes they develop during the stage when the skin of the grapes change color from green to red or black. As the sugars in the grapes increase during the ripening process so does the anthocyanins. In most grapes anthocyanins are found only in the outer cells of the grape skin leaving the grape juice inside virtually colorless. So it is the skin of the red wine grapes that give the wine its color.

Wine is a source for all the major classes of Phenolics which are preserved during the fermentation process of wine making. The ethanol produced during the fermentation process serves to boost the amounts of flavonoid phenolics present in the skins and seeds of red wine grapes. The phenolic compounds in wine include a large group of several hundred chemical compounds known as polyphenolics that effect the taste, color, and the way wine feels in the mouth (sometimes referred to as mouthfeel). This large group can be separated into two categories flavoniods and non-flavonoids. Flavonids include anthocyanins and tannins which contribute to the color and the way wine feels in the mouth. Non-flavoniods include stilbenes such as resveratrol and compounds derived from acids in wine like benzoic, caffeic and cinnamic acid. Phenolics are found in the skin, stems, and seeds of grapes. In wine making the process of maceration or “skin contact” is used to increase the influence of phenols in wine. The process of oak aging can also introduce phenolic compounds to wine, most notably of vanillin which adds vanilla aroma to wines.

This is way too much science. Bottom line is like most fruit the majority of the vitamins and healthy stuff is in the skin of the fruit. The processes used in making red wine captures as much of the healthy stuff as possible. So, let’s have at least one glass of red wine each day with a meal. I can live with that rule.