50 Days to Love Your Liver

I’ve never gone in for New Year’s resolutions.  Why wait for New Year’s Day to start something new?  Carpe Diem!

But the media are often flooded with ideas for self-improvement this time of the year.  And just because I don’t make resolutions at New Years doesn’t mean that I should ignore a good idea.

This brings me to one of the great occupational hazards of being a sommelier.  Oh, yes, there are occupational hazards.  Some are transitory, like headaches from bad wines.  (I never get a headache from good wine, no matter how much I drink.  Quality doesn’t hurt.)  We battle stained teeth or, even worse, acid eating away at our teeth.  And many of us know some unfortunate soul for whom becoming a sommelier was the gateway to alcoholism.

But the most serious occupational hazard is liver damage.  What to do about that?  A year ago, I wrote about MilkThistle and it does seem to work based on my own extensive (but unscientific) personal research. 

But since liver damage is often a slow, long-term process, who really knows whether Milk Thistle really works?  What does?

Enter the British Liver Trust.  They’ve started a campaign, “Love Your Liver”.  Aside from offering free mobile clinics up and down the UK to get your liver tested, they’re also advocating

TAKE 2-3 DAYS IN A ROW OFF ALCOHOL – This will keep your total intake down and gives your liver time to recover. Providing your liver has no lasting damage, it can repair itself very quickly [and] can take as little as 24 hrs to go back to normal. Why not try the Love Your Liver Challenge?

Why not, indeed?  Yes, it's abstinence but it's not total abstinence.  So take a day off.   Sommelier or not, a little moderation and TLC for your liver is a good idea, any day of the year.

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Not tonight, dear…I'm Having Chardonnay

Just catching up to an article in the National Post last week about a strain of yeast, developed at UBC's Wine Research Centre, that can reduce headaches from wines.

According to the scientist that developed the yeast, about 30% of the world’s population are so sensitive to histamines and other biogenic amines that they develop headaches. These amines are often formed during Malolactic fermentation. (Malolactic fermentation is the conversion of harsh malic acid to smoother lactic acid.) This recently developed strain of yeast – ML01 – produces fewer amines by allowing Malolactic fermentation to occur simultaneously with alcoholic fermentation. (More often, Malolactic fermentation occurs after alcoholic fermentation.)

Governments in Canada, the US, and South Africa have approved the yeast in winemaking. The European Union is next on the approval list.

If you suffer from these headaches, how do you know if a winemaker used ML01?  As the article points out, winemakers are loath to disclose that they are using the yeast since it is genetically modified. But the use of GM, or artificial, yeasts is quite common in winemaking. Me, I prefer wines made with indigenous, or natural, yeasts but I’m fortunate that I don’t suffer from wine headaches. I’m sure my attitude would be different if a headache was waiting for me whenever I drank a wine.

Of course, another way to avoid those headaches is to drink wines that avoid Malolactic fermentation. Which ones are those? At the risk of over-generalization, look for:

• light red wines that are meant to be drunk young (Beaujolais, Dolcetto),
• many warm climate wines (which may lack acidity to begin with)
• most white wines (except Chardonnay), and
• most inexpensive wines, as Malolactic fermentation adds to the cost of production.

Cheers to the scientists at UBC!

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Overstating the Obvious

Last week brought the news of a study published in The Lancet, "Drug harms in the UK: a multicriteria decision analysis", that claims that alcohol is the most lethal drug based on how destructive drugs are to the individual who takes them and to society as a whole.

Well, that's like saying that the automobile is the most dangerous form of personal transportation.

Really, so what?

The Associated Press reported, "Experts said alcohol scored so high because it is so widely used and has devastating consequences not only for drinkers but for those around them."  Yes, devastating for abusers, like anything else.  The AP went on to report that one of the authors, Leslie King, said countries should target problem drinkers, not the vast majority of people who indulge in a drink or two. [I'm on board there.]  He said governments should consider more education programs and raising the price of alcohol so it isn't as widely available.  [Oops, lost me there.]

OK, education that targets problem drinkers makes sense.  But higher taxes punish everyone, abusers and responsible drinkers alike.  It's just prohibition on a smaller scale.  Excise taxes are a sadly antiquated public policy that punishes everyone to prevent the small number of alcohol drinkers who end up as abusers.

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A Full-Bodied Wine

Decanter reports that "A woman is suing UK supermarket Asda after buying a bottle of wine from the supermarket – which allegedly contained a frog." 

Bet she's been a little jumpy lately.

As for the frog, it beats that proverbial pot of slowly boiling water...


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Mind Your Own Business

The SAQ – Société des Alcools du Québec (it’s Québec’s equivalent of the LCBO) – has revealed that it’s going into the international liquor wholesale business. The idea is that the SAQ will increase its already significant buying power ($900-million annually) by acting as a wholesaler in liquor markets in other countries. As the buyer for both its customers in Québec and its new customers around the world, the SAQ will presumably get better prices all-around. The argument appears to be that huge buyers such as Costco (in the US), Tesco (in the UK) and emerging players in the BRIC countries are taking over the wholesale liquor business. It’s “go big or go home”.

Now, I believe, as a principle, that government has no place in running a business, either wholesale or retail. That includes the liquor business. I recognize that, in my grandfather’s day, many people viewed wine and spirits as the devil’s instruments. Yes, alcoholism can be a serious health issue. Alcohol also contributes significant health benefits. But there are ways for the government to play its role as protectors and promoters of public health without running everything from A to Z.

But, as we all know, principle is one thing. Practicality is something else. In Canada, liquor businesses run by the government have been a reality for generations now. Unwinding these operations, through privatization or deregulation, would be difficult and I haven’t yet come across a proposal that describes how government would accomplish this without significant disruption to the consumer. (Not saying government can’t do it, just haven’t seen the plan yet.) Not to mention that governments are addicted to the steady revenue stream from liquor and lotteries. That’s why every time that the Government of Ontario floats the idea of selling off the LCBO, it’s never too long before it quietly retreats.

We accept (grudgingly) the government’s current place in the liquor business within its jurisdiction. But it simply compounds a mistake when the SAQ – a government monopoly with all the benefits that bestows – moves beyond its borders and competes with private sector companies. Maybe the SAQ (and LCBO) should look at using Costco or Tesco as its wholesaler. I’m sure they’d like to get their hands on $900-million in business. In the meantime, SAQ, mind your own business!

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Red-Faced

We’ve all seen it. You’re at a dinner party, or a wine-tasting, and suddenly, someone’s face turns red. Is it embarrassment? No, it’s redder than a blush. Has your charm turned them on? You wish. Could it be a reaction to, yikes, the wine? If it is the wine, what’s in the wine that makes someone’s face go red?

For some people, it’s the alcohol. These folks most likely have a deficiency in (wait for it) acetaldehyde dehydrogenase, an important enzyme in metabolising alcohol. The result is the accumulation of acetaldehyde, which shows up as a reddening in the face, neck, and shoulders. Other symptoms include nausea, headaches, light-headedness, an increased pulse, drowsiness, and occasional skin swelling and itchiness.  [UPDATE, Jan 21:  Wine Spectator reports there's a possible cure for this enzyme deficiency.]

But maybe it's not the alcohol. It might also be sulphites, or histamines, or other additives.

Fermentation produces sulphur dioxide naturally, as the yeast converts grape sugars to alcohol. Many producers add more sulphur dioxide (or sulphites) as a preservative. For people who lack the enzyme to process sulphites, an allergic (asthmatic) reaction, including flushing, may result. If you’re trying to avoid sulphites, some biodynamic and organic winemakers go out of their way to keep sulphite levels down, and say so on their labels. Vintages also does a good job of identifying these wines in their New Releases.

Bacteria and yeast often generate histamines during fermentation, and alcohol tends to amplify the effects of histamines. For those people sensitive to histamines, face-flushing, a runny or stuffy nose, itchy and runny eyes, or worsening of asthma symptoms, as well as headaches, may result from drinking wines with an elevated level of histamines. The same bacteria that generate histamines may also cause wines to spoil. Researchers at Bordeaux University (where else?) are currently working on a project to eliminate the bacteria (and resulting histamines) produced as part of the fermentation process. Good news for allergy sufferers and the rest of us who don’t want our wines to go off.

Winemakers may also use allergenic substances in fining. (Fining is the clarification and stabilisation of wine by removing microscopic proteins that may cloud the wine, or removing tannins that make the wine more astringent or bitter than the winemaker wants, or removing unwanted aromas.) Organic substances, such as egg whites, milk, fish bladders all have been used (but not exclusively) in fining. Very little of these substances remain in the wine but highly allergenic people may still have a reaction. And, obviously, vegans are not keen on wines that have used these substances.

We may think that those people who have a reaction to wine (whether it’s because of alcohol, sulphites, histamines, or other substances) are unlucky. But another way to look at it is that they have a built-in moderator. They avoid over-indulging and, the morning after, don’t have to look for a cure!

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Farewell to the Oughts...Naughts...Oh Ohs...whatever!

As we enter a new decadem (if we say millennium, why not decadem?), Decanter has posted an extensive summary of studies that show the health benefits and hazards of drinking wine for 36 different conditions, from cancers to aging to asthma. 

Being a "glass is half-full" guy, I say keep drinking...in moderation...into 2010!

And thanks for reading my blog!

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