After my experience with Tannat from Uruguay at the fair in Hong Kong, I was surprised to find a bottle of Madiran at my local apothecary being touted as the 'healthiest wine in the world'. Using high tannins - and the beneficial cardiovascular and perhaps even anti ageing effects of resveratrol - as a marketing tool is nothing new, but as far as I know from the studies that Howitz and Sinclair reported in the journal Nature in 2003 this 'substance' significantly extends only the lifespan of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In any case, they overprice the wine on their corner shelf much as, I assume, they do the aspirin, vitamins and viagra. It would be a shame for Montus, Aydie and Capmartin if we were one day only allowed to drink their Madiran with a doctor's prescription. Comments