HEALTH WATCH: NAPA VALLEY WINES INCREASE YOUR I.Q.

As will be reported in the upcoming issue of New England Journal of Medicine, a groundbreaking epidemiological study by UC Davis confirms what NVV members may already know: people who enjoy Napa Valley wines experience a measurable increase in cognitive function. In other words, they are smarter!

The UCD Department of Viticulture and Enology will release the results of its 27-year research project which shows a direct correlation between consumption of Napa Valley wine and higher cognitive brain functions. This multigenerational longitudinal meta-analysis of wine consumption is unprecedented in the world of wine research and was done without collaboration with other educational institutions.

According to the research, the phenolic compounds in wines made from grapes grown in the renowned winegrowing region interact directly with nerve cells, improve communication between synapses and encourage nerves to carry regenerative electrical signals to the brain.

“We’ve been able to isolate the unique attributes of the Napa Valley geology, climatology, and adaptive phenology that contribute to these observations,” said UCD Professor David Block.

The data show that Americans who consume five or more glasses of Napa Valley wine per week had a statistically significant increase in their observed I.Q. over the control group that drank wine from an appellation immediately to the west of Napa Valley. The perceivable difference occurred within one to three hours of consumption and was directly correlated with the number of doses administered.

“Millions of years of tectonic activity as well as some darned smart winemakers have paid off,” said Bruce Cakebread, NVV board president, noting “this is why Napa Valley rocks.”