This article was recently published in the New York Times. Thought I would share. The Claim: A Glass of Wine With Dinner Aids Digestion....

Pairing the right wine with a meal can round out flavors and stimulate conversation. But can it really help digest the meal, as suggested by a host of authorities through the ages, even the Bible? ("Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake.")

Millenniums later, scientists are still working on that one. Some have found that alcoholic beverages speed the emptying of food from the stomach and stimulate gastric acid, while others maintain there is little effect. One study by German researchers, in the aptly named journal Gut, may explain the discrepancy: it found an effect from fermented drinks (wine, sherry and beer) but not from drinks that were fermented and distilled, like rum, cognac and whiskey.

"The alcoholic beverage constituents that stimulate gastric acid output and release of gastrin are most probably produced during the process of fermentation and removed during distillation," they concluded.

Other studies help explain why red wine and red meat pair so well. Protein softens the wine's tannins, and red wine also helps counteract potentially harmful substances - oxidized fats called malonaldehydes, or MDA - released when meat is digested.

A 2008 study found that a serving of dark meat from turkey elevated levels of the substance in subjects' blood. But when they combined it with a glass of cabernet sauvignon or shiraz, the increase in MDA was "completely prevented."

The Indiana wine industry was featured at St. Vincent Hospital's 19th annual Dining A La Heart program. This fundraiser showcased 13 of Indiana's 46 wineries. Guests awarded the People's Choice award to Monticello-based Whyte Horse Winery's Cabernet Sauvignon. "As a new winery, this award is a tremendous honor for us," said Larry Pampel, who owns Whyte Horse Winery with his wife, Connie, and his brother and sister-in-law, Don and Dennis Pampel. This wine is a blend of two vintages of Cabernet Sauvignon and an addition of Petite Syrah. The wine spent a tremendous amount of time aging in French and American oak barrels. "The resulting wine is something we enjoy drinking and find great joy in knowing others are enjoying it as well!"

Whyte Horse Winery won several awards recently at the Florida State Fair International Wine and Grape Juice Competition. More info and directions to the winery at www.whytehorsewinery.com

You will find these at local wine shoppes. Wake up your dormant taste buds and aid your digestion all in one sip.