Physicians throughout the ages have been quoted extolling the virtues of wine. The following is a selection of these quotes.

Quotes from the Wine Doctor

"Wine is fit for man in a wonderful way, provided that it is taken with good sense by the sick, as well as the healthy" Hippocrates (460-377BC), Greek Physician

"Drink a glass of wine with your soup and steal a rouble from your doctor" Russian Proverb

"In vino sanitas, In wine there is health" Pliny the Elder (AD 23-79), Roman soldier, scientist and historian

"God gave the grape, the wine to make to please both great and small. But little fools then drink too much and big ones not at all" Anon

"Wine is the most healthful and hygienic of beverages" Louis Pasteur (1822-1895), French scientist

"Wine is the milk of the elderly" Maimanides (1135-1204) Jewish physician and philosopher

"Whether wine is a nourishment, medicine or poison, is a matter of dosage" Paracelsus (1493-1541), a German physician and father of modern pharmacology. Also, the doctor who gave us the word 'alcohol'

"No nation is drunken where wine is cheap" Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), American President, Statesman and intellectual

"Nothing is more useful than wine for strengthening the body and also more detrimental to our pleasures if moderation be lacking" Pliny the Elder (AD 23-79), Roman soldier, scientist and historian

"When we allow for age, smoking and other known risk factors, the moderate drinkers have the lowest total death rates and the lowest rates for vascular disease" Sir Richard Doll, Emeritus Regius Professor of Medicine, Oxford University

"Low to moderate intake of wine is associated with lower mortality (up to 50%) from cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease and other causes. Similar intake of spirits implied an increased risk (up to 34%) while beer drinking did not affect mortality" Dr Morten Gronbaek, Research Fellow, Danish Epidemiology Science Centre, 1995

"Alcohol intake in the Dubbo elderly appears to be independently associated with a significant increase in life expectancy, with up to 51% decrease in the death rate" Professor Leon Simons, Alcohol Intake and Survival in the Elderly: A 77-month follow up of the Dubbo Study, 1996

"I consider the temperate use of wine a valuable support to healthy man in this thorny path of life" Dr Thomas Fiaschi (1853-1927), born in Italy, Australian Physician and Vigneron

"There are two liquids that are especially agreeable to the human body, wine inside and oil outside" Pliny the Elder (AD 23-79), Roman soldier, scientist and historian

"Wherever wine is lacking medicines become necessary" The Talmud

"Antioxidants in wine stimulate a nerve enzyme (MAP kinase) which stimulates nerve cells and helps them regenerate "By daily reinforcing these contacts we can prevent neurodegeneration" (such as dementia and Parkinson's disease)" Dr Alberto Bertelli, University of Milan

"Wine from the beginning of history has been mans adequate companion to bread" Dr Salvatore P. Lucia (1901-1984), American physician and writer

"If penicillin can cure those who are ill, Spanish sherry can bring the dead back to life" Sir Alexander Fleming (1881-1955), Discoverer of penicillin

"Wine is constant proof that God loves to see us happy" Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), American philosopher

"If God forbade drinking wine, would he have made it so good?" Cardinal Richelieu (1585-1642), French Statesman

"Wine warms the body, is digestible, increases the appetite, helps sleep and has reviving properties" Dioscorides (AD40-90), Physician to Nero's Army

"Wine is the best medicine when it has the best moderation to direct it" Saint John Chrysostom (347-407), Religious Scholar

"Wines extended use will carry health and comfort to a much enlarged circle" Thomas Jefferson

"I think a tax on wine, is a tax on the health of our citizens" Thomas Jefferson

"Preserving or recovering health, the work of a doctor or vinter is almost the same" Thomas Willis, from his 'Oxford Casebook'

"Wine as a medicine is most beneficial and brings aid to the wounded" Athanaeus (170-230), Roman Physician

"Grapes from whence strong drink is derived, is healing for mankind" The Koran

"In the parable of the Good Samaritan, the Good Samaritan bound the wounds of the traveller, who had been robbed, pouring on olive oil and wine - which is still sold today in the Middle East and is known as "Samaritan balm"