Wine’s medicinal and financial properties were the reason secular hospitals maintained extensive wine cellars. Again, this was true later in the century when the house of “Zähringer” founded the “Hospital of the poor," in the Zurich region.
In 1443 the chancellor of Burgundy Nicolas Rolin founded the Hospices de Beaune or Hôtel-Dieu de Beaune, a hospital for the poor and needy. A stunning 50metre long courtyard and buldings surrounded by the villages of Pommard, Volnay & Meursault!
The French paradox is the observation that the French suffer a relatively low incidence of coronary heart disease, despite having a diet relatively rich in saturated fats.
Compounds, known as polyphenols, are found in larger amounts in red wine (red wine is fermented with the skins, whereas white wine is fermented after the skins has been removed). There is some evidence that these polyphenols are beneficial, particularly resveratrol.
Dr. Sinclair of Harvard University and others claim that resveratrol is the active molecule responsible for the significant difference in lowering cancer risks and heart disease in other species and that the required amounts are only found in red wine.
