I was not saying "no" to you sam, but to Tom.

Reduction is the opposite of oxidation.

Being an anti-oxidant is often the thing as being a reducing agent.
Oxidation is when an atom loses electrons (and its oxidation number
increases. So if you take iron and let it rust it goes like this 2 Fe
+ O2 -> 2 FeO the iron lost two of its electrons and has oxidized to
the Fe2+ state. Now if you heat that rust with hydrogen gas H2 you can
REDUCE the oxidation number of the iron back to 0 and you get the iron
metal back and water FeO + H2 -> Fe + H2O. That is reduction.

Ok, now the difference between being an anti-oxidant and being a
reducing agent. An anti-oxidant is a special class of reducing agents
that can accept electrons from free radicals and reactive oxygen
species. Those chemicals do not chemically react with things in such a
nice chela manner as above with the rust. Instead they tent to give
things extra electrons that they do not need and damage them. But they
do not exactally chemically combine with those things. So
anti-oxidants are reducing agents, but reducing agents may not be
anti-oxidants.

The reason I use reduction instead of anti-oxidant is becasue that
oxidation in wine is not always due to free radicals or reactive oxygen
species. Instead it is more like the "rust" example. That is oxygen
(and other stuff) is chemically reacting with wine components and
changing their character. The wine is "rusting"

I dunno, it is a subtle difference. To a chemist like me it is a big
difference.....but to all of you it is probabally a forgettable one.