BULGARIAN WINE IS GOOD FOR THE HEART

Published: 23 July, 2008

Safeway's Young Vatted Bulgarian Cabernet Sauvignon could help save your life, according to research produced at Glasgow University, with the support of Safeway and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. The 1996 vintage of the wine, produced by the Svischtov winery, came out on top in a study of the health benefits of 16 Safeway reds from the 1996 and 1997 vintages, as undertaken by a team of researchers at the University, led by Dr Alan Crozier. According to the research, there is a strong positive correlation between the level of phenolics present in a wine and its antioxidant activity (AA) and vasodilation capacity'. Wines with a high phenolic content could therefore provide enhanced protection against cardiovascular disease'. The Young Vatted Cabernet was shown to have the highest phenolics. Follow-up research on ten Safeway reds from the 1998 to 2000 vintages showed similar ranges of antioxidant activity, with a Young Vatted Bulgarian Cabernet again the top wine. The research also showed that the AA in unfermented red grape juice was much lower than in the finished wines; and that AA increased during both fermentation and maturation.

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