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The name’s Noir. Pinot Noir. It may not be a British super sleuth, but the wine of the great grape targets a new world enemy: Alzheimer’s disease. Read Article “Beer Babes”: Been there. Done that. Whether or not you approve of the beer industry’s current marketing practices, it seems gorgeous women and beer have always shared a symbiotic relationship. Read Article So, how much is that in wine years? If you think that ’43 bordeaux in your cellar is a classic, you might be interested to learn about Commandaria, a wine that’s been in production for over a millennium. Read Article True or False: Steaks can glow in the dark. Click here to see the answer. A new study suggests that red wines, particularly pinots, may have the ability to fight Alzheimer’s disease. The study reveals that resveratrol, a compound found in grapes and red wine, can reduce levels of the amyloid-beta peptides, which cause the disease. Resveratrol is a natural polyphenol, an antioxidant that can inhibit the damaging effects of free radicals. So far, the highest concentrations of resveratrol have been found in pinot grapes. But the levels of resveratrol, even in pinot grapes and wines, may not be enough to provide an effective way in which to combat Alzheimer’s, which affects nearly 4.5 million Americans alone. Scientists hope to use the data from the study to develop a compound that can effectively combat the disease. Back to top Anthropologists at the University of Florida have discovered that a mountaintop facility in Peru was once a brewery for the Wari society, a civilization that predated the Inca Empire. Moreover, it’s now believed the brewery was run by women. The women were responsible for overseeing the weekly production of hundreds of gallons of beer for consumption by the Wari society, men and women alike. The study adds to the body of evidence suggesting that women in ancient Andean societies played a more important role in their society than once believed. It also connects to modern Andean societies where drinking amongst women doesn’t carry the same stigma it often does in modern American society. But the Waris might not have felt too out of place in modern America. While the women were selected for the job based on nobility, the ancient Andeans expected those working the vats to be physically beautiful as well. Back to top Credit for most of Western antiquity’s innovations typically goes to the Greeks or the Romans. But the next time you make a toast to the ancients, don’t forget to thank the island of Cyprus. After all, the wine you toast with may owe its existence to the Mediterranean isle. A new excavation by Italian archaeologists suggests that Cyprus had perfected wine making some 1,500 years before their more famous neighbors. Furthermore, Cypriot advances in clay goblet and jar production allowed for the exportation of their wines to other regions of the Mediterranean. And while the Middle East can claim to have the oldest links to wine manufacture, the Cypriots can boast the oldest wine still in production, Commandaria, a wine with rave reviews by some of the legendary figures from the past, including Homer and King Richard the Lion-Hearted. The sweet wine was introduced to main-land Europe by the Crusaders. And it’s widely held that Commandaria has been made in Cyprus since at least 1,000 BC. Lab Results Belgiorno, part of the Italian Institute of Technologies Applied to Cultural Heritage, claimed that testing on Cypriot pottery dates winemaking in Cyprus to over 5,000 years ago. By comparison, it is believe the Greek island of Crete had winemaking “only” 3,500 years ago. The dates were calculated due to the discovery of tartaric acid in jar fragments. Tartaric acid is used as an antioxidant and is found in grapes and wine. The fragments also bore a resemblance to storage containers found in later Egyptian hieroglyphs, further suggesting the wine’s exportation to other civilizations. The Cypriots weren’t just limited to making great wines. Their skill in pottery led to the development of what may be the first “glass”, a container inspired by the shape of cattle horns. Some Cypriot pots dated at 4,000 years old also have depictions of wine making, providing strong iconographic evidence to the researchers’ claims. As for the wine itself? It was probably a red although it may have been incompatible with today’s tastes. It was so thick it had to be diluted in water. Of course, that may have been intentional so as to kill harmful bacteria in the drinking water. Back to top True. And it’s not just steak. Recently, a Sydney, Australia resident called into a radio show Down Under to talk about his glowing pork chops. The concerned caller was later assured by the NSW Food Authority that while it was best not to eat glowing meat, the organisms that cause the unique hue, pseudomonas fluorescens, are likely harmless as they are normally present in meats, albeit at low levels. The factors that can allow the organism to grow – and glow - inlclude poor storage (ie. not enough refridgeration) and keeping meat around that is too old. The Australian authorities say that despite the lack of danger, food that glows in the dark should be avoided. But we already knew that, didn’t we? Back to top

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