Hey there,
What's more important: quality or quantity? Long term or short term?
That's what came up yesterday recording a podcast with Adam Huss for Beyond Organic Wine — I'll let you know when it's live.
Here's what I find hard to watch: more people buying cheap supermarket "organic" wine that doesn't even taste great, when they could — and should — be drinking less, but better.
Especially once you know that past two glasses, your palate stops properly enjoying what's in front of you. After that, it's party time 🎉
Just like me — one glass a day keeps the doctor away. Sometimes two.
Here's to the new newsletter format. I hope you truly enjoy it.
Cheers,
Greg x
1. Pour
Wine's polyphenols actually do something
A 2023 review pulled together decades of research on resveratrol, catechin and quercetin — the polyphenols in red wine — and confirmed real anti-inflammatory and cardio-protective effects.
It's also the clearest case yet for skin contact and minimal intervention. Less processing means more of the compound that's actually doing the work.
REVIEW: Red wine polyphenols and human health →
Blind tastings keep proving the "boring but worthy" stigma wrong
A UCLA-led study of 128,182 French wines found third-party certified organic wines scored 6.2% higher than conventional ones in expert ratings. Biodynamic wines scored 11.8% higher.
Not self-reported, not marketing — blind scores from Gault Millau, Gilbert Gaillard and Bettane Desseauve.
STUDY: Evidence mounts that eco-friendly wine tastes better →
2. Grow
Soil health may decide which wine regions survive this century
A review from the Regenerative Viticulture Foundation and NIAB warns up to 90% of the world's traditional wine regions could disappear by 2100 without a shift toward living soil.
Growers already rebuilding soil health are seeing real resilience to the exact climate pressures putting those regions at risk.
REVIEW: Regenerative viticulture and climate resilience →
Why Tomasso doesn't irrigate
We wrote about this on the blog — Tomasso, of Malia, farms in a heavily industrialised French region where every neighbour irrigates as standard. He doesn't, and he's hand-planted trees between his vines instead.
He's thinking in decades, not vintages. It's the clearest example we've got of "regenerative" vs. just "sustainable."
BLOG: Regenerative wine, explained →
3. Thrive
Italian cardiologists just gave wine a surprising endorsement
At a 2026 congress of the Italian Society of Cardiology, wine — within the Mediterranean Diet, capped at two glasses a day — was framed as a cultural and "nutraceutical" element, not a vice.
The catch: the benefit only holds if you respect the line between responsible drinking and excess.
READ: Wine as a Mediterranean Diet ally →
Get headaches from red wine? Try this first
Sulphites usually take the blame, but the evidence doesn't back that up for most people. Histamines, tannins and plain dehydration are the more likely culprits.
Wine Spectator's house doctor suggests half a glass, then a 20-minute wait, before writing red wine off completely.
READ: What actually causes red wine headaches →
This newsletter is written by Greg, founder of Vivan Cooperative — buying direct from independent winemakers across Europe, no importers, no distributors, no middlemen.
Got a question, a correction, or just want to say hi? Get in touch — it comes straight to me.
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