Since 1993, “the Wine and Health : Vascular Biology and Pathology Programme” has been supported by the French Ministry of Agriculture (Onivins, Vinifhlor) and is coordinated by a scientific committee of French experts who each year defines the main themes of research, organises the call for proposals and oversees the carrying out of the projects.

The projects focus on the effects of wine and its compounds on general health and more specifically on cardiovascular disease. The studies financially supported are divided into three main and complementary fields essential to prove or disprove the phenomenon called the French Paradox and to help the scientific understanding of this phenomenon.

1) to find out through epidemiological studies arguments to uphold or refute the suggestion of a protective effect against the development of cardiovascular disease by moderate and regular consumption of red wine in French populations,

2) to identify the components of wine and their metabolism in human beings

3) to find out through cellular and experimental studies, how these components and, especially, their metabolites which circulate in blood in human beings after drinking wine are able to act upon the many potential factors which contribute to prevent pathologies, especially cardiovascular disease.

The results obtained through the Wine and Health vascular biology and pathology programme are summarized in the heading "main results". This research programme will be continued in the field of epidemiology, metabolism as well as mechanisms of action. The scientific committee will be enlarged in order to include a majority of French scientists specialized in the domain. In order to have a fair judgment with an external point of view, the research projects submitted within the call for proposals are reviewed by international experts. A new call for proposals will be launched every year and the budget allocated by the Onivins/Vinifhlor will enable to support minimum ten projects.

After several years of research, the results of the scientific work coordinated by the programme "Wine and Health" continue to sustain the hypothesis that a moderate and regular wine consumption may have a beneficial effect on the prevention of the cardiovascular disease. In addition, this programme has made it possible to highlight new physiological effects and to provide some explanation concerning the basic mechanisms implied in the physiological and pathophysiological action of wine's polyphenols.