Why rich people are now bathing in red wine

Bathing in a tub of red wine is a thing now. Or rather, it has been a thing since the early 1990s, but an Instagram post showing American basketball player Amar'e Stoudemire doing it has highlighted its popularity.

The practice, also known as "vinotherapy", which uses wine as well as the branches, vines and seeds left over from making wine, is said to have a number of health benefits.

Stoudemire told the Daily News that he has been using vinotherapy for around eight months to aid recovery after games.

The red wine bath is very important to me because it allows me to, it creates more circulation in my red blood cells.

New York magazine reports that the process started at a vineyard in Bordeaux in 1993 when a visiting French professor told the owners that the polyphenols, a type of antioxidant, created in the wine-making process were ten times more effective at preventing wrinkles than vitamin E.

After mulling over his advice, Mathilde Cathiard-Thomas set up her own skin care company called Caudalie which is now the market leader in the treatment and owns a chain of vinotherapy spas around the world.

Their treatments include facials ($205), massages ($195) and the aforementioned baths ($75) - which use a combination of wine and water.

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