Just in time for New Year’s Eve festivities, a study published in the British Journal of Nutrition last week revealed that champagne is good for the heart. Reported in The Daily Telegraph, the research has “found that champagne has the same health benefits as previously found in red wine.”

The study team’s leader, Dr. Jeremy Spencer of the University of Reading in the U.K., told the newspaper, “We have found that a couple of glasses a day has a beneficial effect on the walls of blood vessels, which suggests champagne has the potential to reduce strokes and heart disease. It is very exciting news.”

The research set out to answer the question regarding polyphenol levels in champagne. The antioxidant was known to be present in red wine and absent from white wine, but as champagne contains both red and white grapes there was uncertainty over polyphenol levels.

This is particularly good news for the champagne industry, as this research comes at a time when champagne sales are declining continually, particularly in the US.

And the benefits are not limited to alcoholic drinks. The study also found high levels of the antioxidant in cocoa beans, meaning a mug of hot chocolate is just as as good. Except, Dr. Spencer points out, “It doesn’t seem as much fun somehow.”

Other sparkling wine alternatives, such as cava and Prosecco have also been found to contain the antioxidants.

A few months ago, on a visit with my mother, I had my first sip of alcohol-free wine. The wine flowed from a bottle resembling a Burgundy, but when I put my lips to the glass to taste—rather than swirl and revel in the flavor—I downed a gulp of a beverage that tasted more like an interesting sort of grape juice. For someone like my mother, however, who is not supposed to drink true booze, it seemed a perfect alternative.

Now, to my surprise, I’ve recently come across some recent articles from HealthMad.com and  WellSphere.com promoting the health benefits of alcohol-free wine. Who knew?

*Although the alcohol has been filtered out of alcohol-free wine (most contain less than one percent alcohol), it still has the antioxidant properties and additional health benefits found in red wine.

*For those who count calories, alcohol-free wine has about a quarter of the calories of regular wine. So if you drink a glass or two daily, this could be a potential weight-loss tactic—particularly over the holidays when we tend to indulge just a wee bit more than usual.

So, forget about the flavor bringing back memories of preschool. Alcohol-free wine can provide a calorie-reducing, beneficial alternative to the red wine we (I mean I) know and love…