THERE'S news that should make you feel glad to be a wine drinker this Happy Heart Weekend.
Cambridge scientists have just developed a powdered Cabernet Sauvignon pill. They have also pioneered a blackcurrant-flavoured drink called Nutrivine, containing extracts from the skin and pips of Cabernet grapes, according to a report in this month's Decanter magazine.
The idea is that Muslims and other non-drinkers should be offered the same protection from coronary heart disease as moderate drinkers of red wine. The next time you draw a cork, think of the pleasure they're missing in the pursuit of health, and smile.
It's more than five years now since the red-wine-is-good-for-you bandwagon gained thunderous momentum in the space of a single hour. In November 1991, the CBS current affairs programme Sixty Minutes examined what is known as "the French Paradox" - the discovery that the population of southwest France had low levels of heart disease despite a diet which was markedly high in fat. (This, after all, is the homeland of foie gras and confit d'oie.) Red wine, it was suggested, was the explanation - a theory thirstily swallowed by 22 million American viewers. Since then, millions more have switched their allegiance from white wine or beer or spirits, and every other wine-consuming country in the world has likewise plunged deeper into the red.
There is in fact a danger that we may be looking at the wine/health issue through red-tinted spectacles. "We'd probably all like to think that red wine is particularly good for us," says Prof Ian Graham, consultant cardiologist at the Adelaide and Meath hospitals, "but there's nothing terribly conclusive in the research so far". Those in favour argue that the skins and pips of red grapes contain flavinoids and other anti-oxidants which help to prevent the build-up of cholesterol in the artery walls. Prof Graham points out that, while there are scientific papers pointing in this direction, an equal number shroud the issue in doubt.
What is not in doubt, however, is the fact that alcohol of any sort, consumed in moderation, carries health benefits. Think of the graph of alcohol consumption and mortality as J-shaped. At its lowest point are those who have an average of two to three units of alcohol a day. The bottom of the J-curves upwards to mark the higher death rate of non-drinkers (both teetotallers and people who aren't well enough to drink). Substantially higher, right up at the top of the letter, is the death rate of heavier drinkers. This pattern, confirmed in many scientific studies, seems to be generally accepted by the medical profession.
What does alcohol in moderation do for the heart (apart from making us feel relaxed, which can be no bad thing)? Its main benefit is to increase the level of high density lipoprotein cholesterol in the system - the "good" cholesterol which acts as a protection against coronary heart disease. Alcohol may apparently also lower the risk of thrombosis.
Obviously, we shouldn't get too carried away by this heartwarming news. When the recommended maximum levels for safe alcohol consumption were revised upwards in Britain in 1995 on health grounds, the move was greeted with "general derision", Prof Graham points out. In Ireland they remain at 14 units a week for women, 21 units a week for men. Depending on your sex, that's an average of either two or three glasses of wine a day. Modest glasses, too: we're not talking about giant, greedy-guts goblets. There are six average glasses - six units of alcohol - in a bottle.
At the same time, it is cheering in the extreme to have a healthy excuse for a couple of glasses of wine at dinner. Apart from the good it does the heart, wine has other civilising benefits slowing us down, promoting conversation and helping to turn a meal into a social occasion rather than a quick refuelling session. All of which is bound to help digestion.
With more good quality, inexpensive wines spilling on to the market, it's becoming easier all the time to regard wine as an everyday pleasure - or at least a frequent one. With that in mind, here are half a dozen which are easy on the palate and easy on the pocket: all red on the basis that, until we hear clearly to the contrary, we might as well give the red apologists the benefit of the doubt.