Yesterday I wrote a post about a new online wine store called Vinopic.com and their method of scoring wines for health and quality factors (“Giving Wines a Health Score: Sense or Nonsense?“). Today I got a comment from Santiago Navarro, Vinopic’s Chief Executive, that provides more detail on the rating system I referred to. Here is Mr. Navarro’s comment:

Our focus is not on the health properties of wine, but on having an objective approach to quality. Our wine scientist, Roger Corder, analyses for key quality indicators that reveal the quality of the grapes, the skill of the winemaker and how well-made the wine is. Polyphenols (both skin and pip) are key to the sensory pleasures we enjoy from wine; namely its colour, flavour and character. As a whole, they have the single largest positive impact on our experience from wine. It is for this reason we measure their presence and strength. In addition to this, our Master of Wine, Rosemary George, tastes the wines to ensure they are well-structured, representative of their type and generally taste great. As an example, it is important to note that Bordeaux’s success over generations has been the ability to make polyphenol-rich wines that develop in character. I believe it is only a matter of time before wine drinkers realise the value of our analyses.

Please note, we do not measure resveratrol as it is not an indicator of quality. It is a minor polyphenol in wine and anybody who thinks otherwise had been misled.

I read this to mean that what causes us to enjoy the taste of a  bottle of wine can be expressed in the numbers Vinopic gives us. Those numbers are also an indication of that wine’s ability to provide health benefits.

The  Vinopic website is up today, so go to www.vinopic.com and read for yourself. There’s a ton of useful information on grape physiology (if you’re interested in that sort of thing) and its connection to flavor and healthfulness. See for yourself and decide what you think. Cheers!