What does "rsv" mean when applied to american wines?
Answer From Expert Roger Bohmrich MW
There are a few possible meanings of "RSV" when applied to wine. Some in the trade use the initials as shorthand for "Reserve", a term with no precise significance other than the implication that the wine is somehow better than a non-reserve. Second, RSV is used by a Napa Valley winery, Robert Sinskey Vineyards, for obvious reasons. Last, RSV is a scientific acronym for "resveratrol", a polyphenolic compound found to varying degrees in red grapes, grape juice and wine (as well as some other edibles). In recent decades, there has been considerable research - and speculation - regarding the possible health benefits of resveratrol, including cancer prevention. If you have found RSV used in some other sense, please let me know.
