Feel Good Wines
There are many opportunities to drink wine, out at a restaurant/bar, a party, or in the comfort of your own home. There are also as many, if not more, wines available than opportunities to enjoy them. How do feel good wines work, you ask? I think that there are a few ways to look at it.
In one way we have the emotional “feel good” because you are helping in some way. You’ve based your selection on what the winery or retailer chooses to do as a business. It could be better for the environment, helping a cause, or some proceeds from the purchase being donated to a cause.
The second more personal way is science based. The winemaking or style of wine brings you comfort, allowing you to unwind, relax or add to your setting. Our sense of smell is the strongest trigger for memories and emotions. After entering the nose and passing through the Olfactory bulb, smell information is sent to the amygdala and hippocampus. Olfaction is the only sense that gets processed in this brain area. Therefore, smell is the sense most strongly linked to brain areas that are involved in emotion, learning, and memory. These pleasant memories put us into good moods and help to lower stress. They take us out of the now and let us relax and unwind.
Lastly, selecting wines based on your dietary needs: lower alcohol, low to no sugar, low to no Sulphur. Helping to find those wines for my clients has become a more frequent request. Also finding nonalcoholic wines that taste great and fill that sense of smell memory. As mentioned earlier there are many wines to select from and there are great options coming into the Ontario market that you can enjoy.
I’m sure each one of us can quickly pick a feel-good wine. For me, a Vouvray- Chenin Blanc with that woolly lanoline wrapped golden apple. Fresh acidity with a hint of sweetness to balance. Feel free to send me a comment sharing your feel good wine of choice. I’m always on the lookout for more of them.
