This is probably our best evidence yet that red wine is an excellent idea
Red wine is getting a fantastic PR job at the moment.
First it gets championed by the inventors of the Sirtfood diet, who claim red wine can help boost muscle growth and weight loss. Then the University of Canada releases a study arguing that a glass of red wine can have similar effects on the body to an hour of exercise.
But it would seem the best evidence for red wine and a long life was yet to come. The son of a man who lived to 107 has claimed his late father drank four bottles of red wine a day.
Miguel Docampo Lópe, whose father Antonio Docampo Garcia died last week in Vigo in northwest Spain, has said his late father only drank his own homemade red wine. And not just the odd glass or two in moderation. He was knocking back litres of the stuff.
'When we were both at home we could get through 200 litres of wine a month,' he said, adding that '[Mr Docampo] never drank water.'
At his vineyard in the town of Ribadavia Mr Docampo produced organic, chemical-free red wine. His relatives have said he would drink two bottles of red wine with his lunch and another two after dinner. That's around 40 units - or more than double your weekly allowance - every single day. If binge drinking is defined as 'the consumption of an excessive amount of alcohol in a short period of time' then Mr Docampo definitely qualified as a binge drinker.
'He sold the majority of the wine he produced, but still kept a decent amount back for himself,' Jerónimo Docampo, Mr Docampo's nephew told Spanish newspaper La Voz de Galicia. 'If he produced 60,000 litres a year he would keep 3,000 litres for himself. He always said that was his secret to living so long.'
Studies have shown the positive effects red wine can have on your health - including lowering blood pressure and cholesterol - though few would ever recommend imbibing as much as Mr Docampo.
Aside from anything else, we couldn't really deal with the hangover.
