White Wine: A Healthy Spirit?
Whether it’s Kiddush on Friday night, four cups on Passover, a sip under the chupah or total inebriation on Purim, wine features prominently in Judaism. Despite all this, at first blush it seems strange that the Jewish homeland, a country known primarily for its military prowess and technological innovations, is now credited with making a significant contribution to the wine industry.
Nevertheless, the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa has successfully created a white wine with all the reported health benefits of its red cousin, according to a recent article in The Jerusalem Post. Through a process in which researchers incubate whole, squeezed, un-skinned grapes of alcohol, they are able to extract more polyphenols, raising white wine’s antioxidant levels. As with reds, the new libation may stave off heart attacks and prevent tissue aging, while retaining the same taste, flavor and aroma of a traditional white.
American white wine connoisseurs might be inclined to raise a glass when they hear that Israel’s Binyamina Wines has begun producing the “healthy” version and expects to offer it in the United States by the end of the year.
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