Sip with Confidence: Selecting the Best Wine for Your Health

Kristen Coffield in front of bookshelf with wine glass

In the world of wellness, wine can be tricky. A moderate amount can be beneficial to our physical and emotional health, and too much is just bad. Quality also plays a crucial role. High quality, responsibly grown and processed grapes are just better for us and the planet.

It’s Complicated

Mass-produced wine relies on an arsenal of up to 250 different chemical additives to keep the products consistent and profitable. But the real problem with wine begins with the grapes themselves. The Environmental Working Group, a non-profit group that supports organic farming practice and safe food, places grapes on their Dirty Dozen List. Meaning grapes are some of the dirtiest produce grown on the planet. Consider the surface area of a grape, the chemical applications that penetrate the skin, and how that all ends up in concentrated amounts in the juice that gets fermented into wine. Scary.

What’s In Wine?

The winemaking process can be dirty. Grapes are tricky. The natural flavors, level of sweetness and lifespan of grapes varies across vines; which makes capturing consistency near impossible. Enter sugar and chemical additives as a way for wine producers to create products that taste the same — bottle after bottle, year after year. The naturally occurring flaws in wine can now be doctored; making processed, chemically adulterated, sugar enhanced wine, the norm.

Natural Wine: Organic From Grape To Glass

Natural wine is a broad term covering many different styles of wine that are produced naturally. Wines with no added chemicals or sugar, produced from biodynamic and organically grown grapes. Some are unique and esoteric, others are more traditional and appealing to mainstream wine drinkers. Beware, there is no labeling you can rely upon to help you select a natural wine. I personally make sure my wine is third-party tested for purity, because winemakers have been obscuring what’s in wine for years. Be an informed consumer and ask if the wine is organic from grape to glass.

There are several excellent online sources for natural wine. Wines tested for purity, and shipped to your door. My personal favorite has a large selection of natural wine from small organic family vineyards from all over the world. We can choose wine that is better for us, and the planet, and sip with confidence.

Read more about natural wine and other resources for living younger, longer and better from Kristen Coffield at www.theculinarycure.com. Follow on Instagram @kristencoffield.

Kristen Coffield, the founder of The Culinary Cure, is the pioneer of midlife culinary resilience – the simple concept that food can help women live younger, longer and better.

Kristen’s book, How Healthy People Eat: An Eater’s Guide To Healthy Habits, along with her articles, videos, and recipes are available at The Culinary Cure theculinarycure.com.