Decanter World Wine AwardsNew site scores wine on health properties
- Tuesday 7 June 2011
Vinopic analyses and scores wines using a scale that ranks factors such as their content of polyphenols, especially procyanidins - anti-oxidants that can protect against the danger of various illnesses - as well as negative factors such as high amounts of alcohol, sulphites, and sugar.
Roger Corder, Professor of Experimental Therapeutics at the William Harvey Research Institute in London and a partner in the site, said there was a need for ‘a new standard’.
‘Too often, tasting notes or labels don’t help consumers make informed choices.’
To that end, Corder – author of a book called The Wine Diet – evolved what he calls the Intrinsic Quotient. This rewards well-structured wines, with healthy grape tannins - as opposed to over-ripe grapes or over-reliance on oak - and penalises high levels of alcohol.
‘We need to have a dialogue with winemakers about alcohol levels,’ he said. ‘Consumers want choices, but don’t get them.’
Recommended wines are then tasted and evaluated by Rosemary George MW for drinkability and a ‘Vinopic score’ is created. White wines, which have little polyphenol content are offered, but rated on taste alone.
Consumers can also have a say, by rating the wines they buy for quality and value. Their scores are then factored in.
‘If labels gave more of the right sort of information, there would be no necessity for this,’ Corder said.
Have your say!
Roger Corder
June 10 15:09
The focus of Vinopic is not on the health properties of red wines, but on the fact that polyphenol-rich wines generally taste better, complement food, and have much greater potential to evolve. In a week when Bordeaux prices are reaching silly prices, wine drinkers should be aware that Bordeaux's success over generations has been the ability to make polyphenol-rich wines that develop in character. http://bit.ly/jJV9J1
So finding £10 - £20 wines that have the potential to do the same seems somewhat of a holy grail. Polyphenol analyses help identify wines with this potential.
Brian St. Pierre
June 09 10:18
Information about the methodology can be found—and assessed--on the website. Unfiltered.
Belinda Kemp
June 09 08:56
Procyanidins are seed derived and not the only antioxidants in red wine. Additionally higher alcohol levels during winemaking extract more phenolics from grapes. Therefore generally higher alchol wines have higher phenolic concentrations!Which would people prefer?
Elliott Mackey
June 08 20:01
Great to see the gathering storm of information on the health Benefits of Wine. Suggested reading: AGE GETS BETTER WITH WINE BY Dr. Richard Baxter. paperback,
$19.95