Let’s talk wine.
Is it it good for you?
Is wine bad for you?
which is it – can we finally settle this already?
Here’s where I am with the debate… (BTW, I’m writing this from vacation so it felt like an appropriate topic for the week)…
So, humans have been enjoying wine now for, what? something like over 8,000 years.
It’s one of the oldest alcoholic drinks, and a centerpiece of art, culture, dining, and friendship.
How can it be that bad, right?
Here’s the thing though: Wine is different today than it was then.
Over the last 30 years, the wine industry followed the path of most agribusinesses in our food supply: mass consolidation, driven by a growing population, high demand, and corporate greed (fun fact: did you know virtually all of the alcohol sold in the US (including wine) comes from 4 companies? — I read this in the book Quit Like a Woman).
The goal? To make wine cheaper and faster.
By the way: no need to be a wine expert to know this. If you’ve ever had a wine headache or hangover you get it — something’s not right.
Today, wine companies use chemical combinations of unnatural fillers, flavor agents, and dyes. In fact, there are 70+ legal additives approved by the FDA for the use in wine manufacturing in the US.
Back to our question — is wine bad for you? That kind definitely can be.
Why don’t we hear about this? The wine industry spends millions of dollars in lobbying money to keep contents labeling off wine bottles.
Alcoholic beverages are the only major food product without a contents label, so we have no idea what’s in a bottle of wine.
More bad news… modern, shelf wines are industrially produced using very questionable practices. Here are three:
Sugar. American consumers have a sweeter palate, so wine companies engineer their products to be high in sugar. Because of the underlying acidity in grapes, it can be hard to taste sweetness in wine. But it’s there, even in reds.
Farming. Pesticides and herbicides are widely used on US vineyards. The most common is glyphosate, the active chemical in Roundup. Not only does this damage our soils and earth, but it can damage our microbiome and health.
Irrigation. Irrigation is the process of artificially watering agriculture, controlled by humans. When you water vines, you prevent root growth and promote more sugar in the fruit. Without irrigation, vine roots grow deep to search for their own water, which encourages antioxidant absorption and lower sugar levels.
I’ve discovered a company that curates the opposite.
Meet Dry Farm Wines.
They source all their wines from small family farms, predominantly in Europe, and hold the highest standards for all wines they carry.
Every Dry Farm wine must be:
Farmed organically or biodynamically
Dry farmed (without irrigation)
Industrial additive free
Fermented with native wild yeast only
Produced in small batches
Every one of their wines is lab tested by an independent certified enologist to be:
Free of sugar and carbs (0-0.15g per glass)
Lower in sulfites (less than 75 ppm)
Lower in alcohol (less than 12.5% alc/vol)
The result? These wines are real wines, made the traditional way. No industrial influence or added stuff.
You taste the difference from the first sip (seriously). With less than 1g/L of sugar and lower alcohol, these wines are better than anything you’d ever find at the grocery store.
And here’s the best part — they’ve given me a unique offer to extend to you — try a bottle for $0.01 (yes, just a penny!) with your first subscription order.
Dry Farm Wines also backs up their wines with a 100% Happiness Promise. If you don’t like the wines, they’ll either ship you replacements or refund you fully. It’s completely risk free! You can always email them with questions at Service@dryfarmwines.com. Their team is amazing!
Definitely check it out if you’re planning to sip some vino this summer (I highly recommend their roses in particular — it’s damn near IMPOSSIBLE to find a no sugar rose anywhere else).
Get your bottle for a penny with your first order here.
P.S. It’s rare that I dedicate an entire post to a product/brand but I feel strongly about the junk that’s in wine and being able to enjoy a glass without the headache… So I’m excited to share Dry Farm Wines with you — their wines have no sugar, no industrial additives and are lower in sulfites. That means no more wine headaches! Best part — right now you can try a bottle for a penny (yes a penny!) with your first order. Check it out here.
P.P.S. I love me a good glass of rose or red just as much as the next gal, but to be real, not drinking alcohol at all for awhile and now drinking much less has been one of the best things I’ve ever done for my health. All that to say — this is not a post to endorse drinking wine. It’s more like if you do drink wine, here’s the healthiest way to do it. Enjoy!
