Functional foods may be regarded as foods that have nutritional value, but in particular, they also have beneficial effects on one or more body functions. Thus, functional foods may improve health and/or reduce the risk of developing certain diseases when taken in amounts that can be consumed in a normal diet. Based on nearly 2 decades of research since the term "French paradox" was first coined in 1992, wine would appear to fit this definition. Yet there seems to be reluctance to consider wine as a functional food. In this review, we present an overview of the accumulated evidence for the health benefits of wine-and its key phenolic components such as resveratrol, quercetin, catechin-and show that these alone are not enough to firmly establish wine as a functional food. What is required is to create clearly defined products based on wine that are targeted to consumers' needs and expectations when it comes to purchasing functional foods. Moreover, the crucial question of alcohol and health also needs to be addressed by the functional food industry. Suggestions are presented for working through this issue, but in many regards, wine is like any other food-it should be consumed sensibly and in amounts that are beneficial to health. Overindulgence of any kind does not promote good health.

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We report on potential health benefits (antioxidant activity) of 55 wines typical of 2 geographically close, but distinct, wine regions of Australia. Our results highlight the variability in functional components as an issue that needs further research and consideration in relation to wine as a functional food. The price of studied wines is not reflective of their health functionality, based on antioxidant activities.

White and red wines spiked with catechin-rich green tea extract and grape seed extract were assessed for phenolic content, antioxidant activity, and cross-cultural consumer rejection thresholds in relation to wine as a functional food. Health functionality is an important factor in functional foods, and spiking pure compounds or plant extracts is an effective method to increase or control functionality. The total phenolic content and antioxidant activity were measured in wines spiked to different extract concentrations, namely, control and 50, 100, 200, 400, and 800 mg/L, to confirm the dose-response curves in both white and red wines. Consumer rejection thresholds (CRTs) were established for spiked wines in a Korean and in an Australian population. Our results showed that the green tea extract and grape seed extract increased the antioxidant activity dose dependently, and the CRTs varied considerably between the Korean and the Australian groups, with Koreans preferring wines spiked with green tea extract and Australians showing a preference for wines spiked with grape seed extract. These results have implications for producing wine products that are enhanced in phenolic compounds and targeted to different cultural groups.

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