Have cavities and hate to go to the dentist? Maybe the answer is to drink wine.

According to WebMD, Italian researchers bought some red and white wine, then removed the alcohol to prevent it from interfering with the lab tests. They marinated cavity-causing bacteria in the wine, and both wines reacted against the bacteria. They said that red wine may have more antibacterial properties than white.

The study also indicated that wine may have a positive effect on a sore throat, as well.

(But WebMD cautions that the study was done in test tubes, so don’t cancel that dental appointment yet.)

Hail hits France

Hail storms and violent rain in France have taken a toll on vineyards in Alsace and the Cote Rotie area in the Northern Rhone region.

Some vineyards in Alsace saw total destruction of the vines. Some top names are among those whose vineyards were affected, including domaines Trimbach and Weinbach. According to decanter.com, Trimbach lost half its vines in Mittelwihr, but there’s good news — most of the domaine’s vines further north, used to make some of its top wines, were unharmed.

A similar situation occurred in Cote Rotie, where hail stones said to be the size of large marbles destroyed as much as 60 percent of the crop. “A year’s work has gone,” said one grower who lost 50 percent of his fruit.

(Growers are calm about it, though. One said, “You’ve got to take this philosophically. We’ve still got some fruit, we’ll try to heal, and I’m confident for the rest of the harvest.”)

Screw caps more popular

Screw caps continue to make inroads and a recent survey of 237 wineries by Wine Business Monthly showed that the number of brands using the closure nearly doubled in a nine-month period, rising from 120 to 214.

Most screw capped wines are in the $8 to $11.99 range, and more than twice as many white wines are closed with screw caps as reds. The report said that the savviest wine consumers have accepted screw caps, while traditional and less-educated consumers are still unsure of them.

(We assume they mean less-educated consumers insofar as wine is concerned.)

Washington is gaining

Washington State has licensed its 500th winery, solidifying its spot as the No. 2 wine state behind California.

The industry has experienced remarkable growth, said the Washington Wine Commission in making the announcement. In 1980 there were fewer than 20 wineries, in 1990 the number had grown to 64, and by 2000 it reached 155. There are 31,000 planted acres, and the state has 350 wine grape growers.

California has 2,275 bonded wineries, and in third place is Oregon with more than 300, followed by New York with 210.

(They make some pretty Husky wine up there.)

Oops

Usually I use this headline to announce a mistake. Now I’ll have think twice about using it because Oops is now a brand name.

For about a hundred years Chile was producing a wine it called merlot. As the wines gained popularity, someone discovered that it was a mistake — it wasn’t merlot after all, but was carmenère, a grape that was thought to be lost to the phylloxera scourge in Europe. So, Schwartz Olcott Imports created a brand called “(oops)” with the tagline “Some mistakes were meant to happen.”

They bottle carmenère as a single varietal and blend it with other Bordeaux grapes.

(Maybe these guys are on to something. White zinfandel was a mistake, too, and look what happened to that.)

Sarkozy is a teetoler

A few weeks ago we wrote about the French wine resistance movement, Comité Regional d’Action Viticole (CRAV), which threatened to begin terrorist attacks if newly-elected French president Nicolas Sarkozy does not act to ensure higher wine prices.

CRAV may not get much sympathy — Sarkozy doesn’t drink any alcoholic beverages. An item on the British Web site telegraph.co.uk said he’s proud of being a teetoler and is a disappointment to French winemakers who think he is giving the wrong impression of France.

The Web site quotes a winemaker as saying, “Every time you see him on TV he’s jogging. (Sarkozy) doesn’t like eating, he doesn’t like drinking, he doesn’t represent the culture of France.” The winemaker said that Sarkozy’s predecessor, Jacques Chirac “at least knew how to put the drinks away.”

(I wonder if people knew about this when they voted.)

True poachers

Jennifer Rosen, who writes an online column called the Cork Jester, recently told of three men who were arrested at a lake in Poland on charges of fish abuse. They poured sparkling wine down the mouth of a pike, claiming the fish was half-dead and they meant to restore it to consciousness with the bubbly.

(Rosen adds, “They should know better. Poaching fish calls for white wine.”)

Quote of the week

“Fine wine leaves you with something pleasant. The ordinary wine just leaves.” — Maynard Amerine

Jack Heeger can be reached at jheeger@napanews.com