Omnivore - Red wine in powdered form. All hype?

• http://clatl.com/atlanta/ImageArchives?by=1223504
• packets of resveratrol rich Vinia

Wine is widely talked about like a veritable fountain of youth. For thousands of years, sipping it has been purported to have health benefits. It was the medicine of Mesopotamia, a directive in the Bible and the Talmud. We know now that all of this is mainly because of the antioxidant resveratrol, a polyphenol compound that boosts cardiovascular health. But is this why we drink it? What if you could get the same amount of this magical elixir without the alcohol, calories, or sugars? Would you?

Pharmaceutical companies have been trying for years to create a supplement that boosts health the way red wine has been shown to, usually using dried Japanese knotweed which is also high in resveratrol (Cacao, peanuts, cranberries, and blueberries are as well). It’s a pretty amazing compound that works as an antifungal agent on the skins of grapes and works to lower blood pressure and blood sugar levels while raising HDL (good cholesterol) and metabolism. Most studies on resveratrol have been performed on mice—imagine the tiny goblets—or yeast cultures with few involving human subjects. Of those none have measured long-term health or longevity.

Enter a new player on the market, Vinia red grape powder. Bioharvest, the company behind the product, purports they have “pioneered a way to provide the benefits of red wine, in one convenient zero calorie packet.” The burgundy fruit powder claims to have pure extracted resveratrol from Avnir red grapes with one serving equaling a similar amount “as found in 1000 grapes or one bottle of ‘fine’ wine.” A 30 day supply runs $149.99 and can be mixed with anything you would normally eat or drink without calories, sugars, or alcohol.

? ? ?
But is it just the resveratrol? Should we get it from a supplement or like most vitamins and minerals, wouldn’t it be best to get it naturally? Resveratrol has extremely low bioviability (most of it goes straight to pee). Wine may have a multitude of compounds that may interact synergistically along with small amounts of resveratrol in the bottle. Beyond all of this is the pleasure of drinking wine. Even Louis Pasteur, a proponent of wine for health, said “The flavor of wine is like delicate poetry.”

The product, as anticipated, stirred strong feelings within Atlanta’s wine community. Steven Grubbs, sommelier and wine director at Empire state South and Athens’ Five and Ten, said:

I suppose my immediate reaction is that for me I don’t really see the point. I generally assume that because of my profession I’m pretty maxed out on reservatrol one hundred percent of the time, so I don’t need a boost. And if there’s no sensual end—smell, taste, color, development in bottle over the months and years— it’s just, like, a vitamin or something. Granted, there are folks out there who aren’t able to drink red wine for one reason or another, and I imagine the product is useful for them. For my part, however, the whole image just makes me crave chalky, powdery whites, like a lean Sancerre or a smoky Chablis or something.

Dennis Attick, a local food and wine savant who’s blog Decatur Wine and Food Dude depicts his wine adventures, was reminded of a conversation between Burgundian winemaking legend Freddy Mugnier and critic Allen Meadows where they were talking about wine making. Mugniere said “Wine making is not a technical issue as much as it is an aesthetic issue.” Of this Attick mused:

That says it all. More, I think wine is about the context, the food, the company, when the wine was made, what the weather was like that vintage, etc. When I open a bottle of 1970 Leoville Las Cases (as I did for NYE!) I think about the people who picked those grapes, if any of them are still alive, what their lives were like in 1970, etc. I don’t think your wine powder can do that. It’s just fermented grape juice, sure, but it’s also so much more, if you care to pay attention. I could give you my case of how red burgundy is like the Grateful Dead…

Lusca’s former sommelier and wine director, Tim Willard, who is now the southeastern regional manager with European cellars might try the powder out of scientific curiosity. “I would rather drink a glass of 2006 Can Rafols Gran Caus from Penedes Spain to get my resveratrol. It’s under $25 and drinks more like a Bordeaux than a Bordeaux. Biodynamic too.”

I think I will take my wine in liquid form. Sure with powder you don’t risk a hangover or added calories, but you also don’t get to taste the stars.