British scientists have discovered that red wines from the two regions — Sardinia and Pyrenees — boast the highest concentrations of a chemical that underlies the drink’s well-publicised benefits for cardiovascular health. The new study, published in the journal Nature.
Wines from Nuoro province in Sardinia, and the Gers departement in the foothills of the Pyrenees, are particularly rich, containing up to 10 times more of the beneficial compounds than alternatives from Australia, South Africa and the United States.
The notion that a daily glass or two of red wine is good for the heart has been established by studies showing that moderate drinkers are less likely to suffer from heart disease than those who never touch it.
Regular red wine consumption has also been proposed as an important element of the ?Mediterranean diet?, which is thought to explain the greater longevity of people living in southern Europe.