Incorrect assertions from some ill-informed Prohibitionists may be partly responsible for why wine sales in this country have taken a nosedive in the last two years.

As sales have declined, dozens of wineries have gone out of business, wine retailers are cutting back on what they offer, and consumers are seeking lower-alcohol or zero-alcohol products because they think they will live longer.

However, the leading cause of death in this country is heart disease, which scientific papers show that moderate consumption of wine with food reduces the risk of. This was proven yet again within the last week.

Another scientific study indicates that moderate wine consumption may actually be good for most people, according to a study coordinated by Dr. Zhangling Chen, MD, Ph.D., a professor at the Second Xiangya Hospital at China's Central South University.

Chen was the lead researcher in an alcohol consumption study of 341,000 British adults, the UK Biobank study, between 2006 and 2022. Researchers looked at deaths from cardiovascular disease.

They found that regular moderate wine drinkers had a 21% lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease than did alcohol abstainers or occasional drinkers.

Very few U.S. newspapers carried this story. One reason is that newspapers typically don't cover such news.

One thing that has negatively affected wine sales has been an almost complete collapse of wine education in the United States, including the loss of newspaper and magazine wine columnists.

Unlike several nations in Europe (Portugal, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Austria) where wine is a daily beverage, wine in the United States is often an afterthought. Among the recent losses attributed to declining sales are weekly wine columns.

I was first syndicated in 1979. At the time, I was among 20 or more people who wrote columns on wine for major daily newspapers. I recently realized that almost all of those wine writers are now either retired or no longer with us. And not one was replaced.

What we were left with is what I consider a faulty substitute: scores on wine that purport to discuss quality. Obviously, those who support numerical rankings on wine will say that the product they rated at 100 points is of quality.

But does a number like 91 tell you anything about the product except one person's possibly incorrect opinion? That's the problem — no number can explain a wine's style.

No score can mean anything without a verbal description from the score-giver. But without wine education to guide us, are experts' descriptions even meaningful?

Recently, an accomplished British wine expert said this about a particular French wine: "The Corton-Charlemagne (district) now has three provenances, Languettes, Haut Mourottes, Le Corton. The nose (of this wine) is rather backward, though there is concentration. Very powerful at the back, shows a touch of oak, not yet in harmony, but the building blocks are all in place."

I hope this helps people who are interested in buying it because the reviewer gave it a point score between 93 and 95 — a good score.

I saw this wine listed in a splashy Internet wine sale from a fine wine emporium. It was offered at a price lower than suggested retail — $900 per bottle.

The per-bottle discounted price is only $795. As fine wine sales recover, it may be appropriate to resurrect more wine columns.

Wine of the Week: 2024 Bonny Doon Picpoul, Central Coast ($17) - Dozens of white wine grapes are grown in France's Rhone Valley. Most are used in blended whites that have become popular here. For decades, this small Santa Cruz Mountains producer has made quality white wines from one of the Rhone's best. Picpoul has a delicate floral, tropical aroma, traces of green apple, and a delicate succulence. Bottle Barn in Santa Rosa, Calif., offers it for $11.99.

To find out more about Sonoma County resident Dan Berger and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.

Photo credit: Chelsea Pridham at Unsplash