A few years ago at the annual show Albany journalists put on to amuse state politicians, a running gag involved an underworked state employee killing mosquitoes with a spray bottle filled with New York wine. Now comes word from researchers at Harvard Medical School and a Pennsylvania research laboratory that a chemical abundant in red wine made from grapes grown in states like New York may be a potent weapon in ensuring a long, healthy life.

New York winemakers and sellers, who have worked for more than a decade to market their products not as cheap quenchers to pour by the gallon but as lovingly, locally grown vintages worth savoring, think this could be their big chance to change perceptions.

"People think of New York wine being cheap, sweet and kosher," said Susan Wine (yes, that is her real name), who is co-owner of the Vintage New York, which sells only New York wines at its two Manhattan shops. "We have made a lot of progress in changing that already."

The news about the health-promoting chemical, she said, could attract thousands of health-conscious wine drinkers to New York wines.

Red-wine sales in general have received a boost in recent years from studies that point to a a finding that French people, who eat rich food laden with butter and cream considered bad for the heart, live as long as anyone else. Some scientists have said that red wine deserves credit.

Researchers at the Harvard Medical School announced last week at a conference in a small village in the Swiss Alps that they had found a class of chemicals that they believe may make people live longer by activating an ancient survival reflex that mimics the effects of a very low-calorie diet. The finding was also published on Sunday in the journal Nature.

One of the chemicals, resveratrol, is found in red wines, especially those grown in cool climates like that of New York State's. "We have a short growing season from last frost in spring to first frost in fall," said James Trezise, president of the New York Wine Grape Foundation. "The nights get colder and days are nice and warm. That kind of climate is great for developing flavors in the grapes. Apparently that is also good for developing resveratrol."

George Naumburg, 85, inspects grapes at his North Salem Winery. New York winemakers and sellers have tried to market their products not as cheap quenchers but as lovingly, locally grown vintages worth savoring.

Plants create the chemical under - conditions of stress, like lack of nutrients and fungal infection. The chemicals have not been tested on humans, and are a long way from being used for medical purposes. But many in New York's wine industry embraced the new findings. Bill Wagner, a Finger Lakes vintner who has been making wine on the eastern shore of Seneca Lake for 25 years, said drinking a glass of his Wagner Vineyard pinot noir every night with dinner was one of his secrets to robust health at 76.

"I feel great," Mr. Wagner said in a telephone interview from his office at the vineyard. "Of course, I exercise and eat right, too. But the wine helps, no question."

Mr. Wagner participated in a study several years ago with researchers from Cornell University that measured resveratrol in wines at his vineyard. The study prompted him to print up thousands of neck tags to let buyers know the potential health benefits of red wine.

"The federal government approved it, but then three months down the road they rescinded it and took it away," Mr. Wagner said. "At that time, you could not mention health on the label." He is ready to try again, however. "There is quite a lot of water over the dam since then," Mr. Wagner said. "If there is new research, maybe we should give it another try."