We May Soon Have a ‘Sobriety Pill’; EU Grudgingly Accepts White Zinfandel As a Thing
"I'll take whatever pill keeps you just drunk enough."Photo: iStockphoto
• An extract from the Oriental raisin tree, long used as a hangover cure in China, appears to keep rats from getting drunk, and researchers are now talking about creating a "sobriety pill" with it. What, we ask, would be the point of a pill that keeps you from having any fun? [New Scientist]
• At least some of that stuff about red wine being the fountain of youth is bunk: It seems that a researcher at University of Connecticut falsified his data in several studies of resveratrol, and scientific journals are being told to issue retractions. [AP, CBS]
• But! A new study from Cornell says that ingredients in tomatoes and grapes (lycopene and grape-seed extract), when literally stuffed into cigarette filters, have been shown to drastically lower the amount of cancer-causing agents that pass through. [Western Farm Press]
• And! Grapes stave off blindness? [Central Valley Business Times]
• Confused by the entire concept of White Zinfandel, authorities in Italy last year seized some of the stuff from a U.K. wine company and forced them to relabel it rosé. Now, following some intense negotiation with the EU, White Zinfandel is now a recognized thing on the Continent. [Drinks Business]
• The 2012 results of the biggest annual American wine competition, sponsored by the San Francisco Chronicle, are in, and you can see them all here. The medal winner in the white wine category was not, alas, from California, but from New York's Finger Lakes region. [Grub Street]
• We mentioned it earlier this week, but longtime Prosecco growers in Italy now have their own grand-cru-esque designation for the original Prosecco-growing region, and they're labeling their wines "prosecco superiore." [NYT]
