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5 Health Benefits of Drinking Wine

Ever heard the saying, “a glass of wine a day keeps the doctor away”? No? Wait, perhaps it’s an apple a day…

Anyway, the point is, the benefits of drinking wine are real. Particularly in comparison to cocktails, which are like the evil cousin of the alcoholic drink family.

We’re all about Team Wine, so we only need one reason to feel good about indulging in this particular pleasure: it’s delicious. But today, we’re going to give you five!

Yes, that’s right. Here are the top five health benefits of wine vs. cocktails…

Benefits of drinking wine

1. Lower in sugar

Ok, let’s start with the most important health benefit first.

Sugar has been described as “poisonous” to the body. And it’s not necessarily the alcohol in your cocktails that’s doing the damage. It’s the mixer.

Even tonic water is full of sugar, though it may not taste super sweet.

Wine, on the other hand, doesn’t contain too much sugar. This is because, during the fermentation process, the sugar from the fruit gets turned into alcohol. Sweet!

2. Lower in calories

More sugar means more calories. Cocktails, therefore, are way more calorific than wine.

A shot of whisky, gin, brandy or rum has 115 to 125 calories. But with mixers, the calories really skyrocket.

For example, a White Russian has 270 calories (from fat as well as sugar, because of the cream), a Margarita has more than 400 calories and a Pina Colada more than 600!

A small glass of wine, by contrast, is around the 100 calorie mark. Sold! Our tasting tubes are 100 ml- so definitely fewer calories than a cocktail.

3. Cleaner & more natural

You might think that some cocktails are healthy because they’re fruity.

Maybe if fresh fruit was actually used. But most cocktails served in bars are made with pre-made fruit mixes. These are full of artificial flavourings and fructose corn syrup.

Wine, on the other hand, actually is made from real fruit. It’s the product of a natural fermentation process that’s been around for millennia.

And because it’s made from real grapes, wine is full of antioxidants.

Wine is also a natural blood thinner, acting in the same way as aspirin. This study found that resveratrol in red grape skins – when turned into wine – could protect against stroke. And this is particularly beneficial for us ladies.

But remember, only in moderation!

4. Boosts libido

Yes, ladies, a study has found that a glass or two of red wine may increase a woman’s libido.

One theory put forward by the study is that the antioxidants “widen the vessels and increase blood flow to key areas of the body” (ahem); thus, putting you in the mood for love…

5. Encourages moderate intake

The more you learn about wine, the less likely you are to skull the contents of your glass.

By tasting wine and educating yourself on its complex flavours, you can feel satisfied by the process of tasting; not the outcome of drinking.

It’s recommended that ladies stick to one glass per day. This may not sound like much; but in a single glass of wine, you could smell the vanilla, pepper and plum of a cool climate Shiraz, or taste the citrus, stone fruits and oak flavours of an aged Chardonnay.

So satisfy your taste buds by taking them on a journey to flavour town! It’s all about quality, not quantity.

It’s the same with food. Depth and complexity can actually make you feel fuller. A recent study shows that subtle manipulations of texture and flavour can “suppress hunger regardless of actual calorific content.”

So there you have it; five benefits of drinking wine that should inspire you to ditch the cocktails.

If you’re still not convinced, why not give our Wine Subscription Box a try?

We’ll select and deliver to your door six different wines from over 100 Aussie wine regions, so you can taste Australia’s best-hidden wine gems in a healthy and educational way.

First Sip of Wine

Do You Remember Your First Sip of Wine?

I remember like it was yesterday. I would have been 7 maybe 8 years old and was dragged along by my parents from winery to winery across the Hunter Valley.

This had to of been the most boring day of my childhood. My sister and I were on holidays and we just wanted to do something exciting. Here we were being taken to these smelly buildings all across the countryside to listen to some old guy talk about this drink called wine and how great it was.

We would sit there patiently (or not) while the winemaker would pour a small glass of this juice for our parents and words that I have never heard of before would come out of their mouth describing how great the flavours were and what it smelt like. Why would talk about how your drink smells?

By the time we got to the third or fourth stop, and it was obvious that our campaign to head to the playground was not going to be successful, I started to be a little intrigued about what all the fuss was about.

It was about time that I was given a sip of this so-called wine. “You wouldn’t like it” says my mother. If this juice really did taste so great like all these old guys behind the counter said they did, then maybe, just maybe I would like it.

Well, enough was enough. I wasn’t going to give up until I had a taste of this magical juice. Somehow, I convinced my Dad to let me take a sniff of his wine and then BAM! Before anyone could notice, I took a sip of this white wine.

I don’t know what it was, but this wine was smooth and full of fruit. It had this tangy kind of taste and probably wasn’t something that I would want to drink much more of but the flavours were different and they definitely got me interested.

Many years later and I am still intrigued by this magical juice and how every bottle has its unique flavours and characteristics but what I have come to learn is that behind every bottle there is a story.

These winemakers that have crafted their wines with passion and hard labour, growing the fruit from the bud. It’s the artisans with this passion that craft the bottles that truly are special.

Wine is more than just an “alcoholic drink made from fermented grape juice” as it is described in the dictionary. It is something we share over memories or when creating new ones, it is part of tradition, history, celebration or just what we need after a hard days work.

Wine is a magical juice.  It can be mysterious at times because we hold it in such high regard and share it with the people we love most. And, it can often be a little intimidating if we don’t quite understand it.

You don’t need to be a master wine connoisseur that with one sniff you can narrow down which region in the world it was made from. In fact, I would argue that it’s better not to be too much of an expert.

Having a good understanding of wine is a great tool to have but you don’t need to over analyse every sip every time. You want to understand how to pick a great wine but you also need to embrace the mystique and savour the moments.

Do you remember your first sip?

The Top 5 Australian Wine Clubs and Wine Subscriptions

Where do you even start to find great wines?

Australia makes some of the best wines in the world with over 2,800 producers from over 100 wine regions, which leaves so much choice and so little time to get through them all.

One way to discover new wines is through ‘wine clubs’ or ‘wine subscriptions’. Continue reading

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