One of the greatest ever marketing coups in Spanish history has to be the “tradition” of eating grapes for good luck at New Year. The idea is that at midnight on 31st December as the clock strikes midnight Spaniards eat a grape with each chime of the clock – 12 per person (which is actually not as easy as it might sound). With a population of 47 million, this equates to some 564 million grapes, or a good few kilos!

And the origin of this “tradition”?  Alicante. Started in 1909 when  grape farmers needed a way to dispose profitably of the surplus grapes from that year’s unexpectedly large harvest. Since then the 12-grape custom is now observed by almost everyone in Spain, not to mention several other South American countries. Being brutally honest, this means that the whole custom is probably no more than a bit of a scam and the claim of bringing luck has no real foundation whatsoever!

This being the case I have decided to create an alternative New Year’s tradition. In future it should be considered extremely lucky to take a sip of albariño with each of the 12 chimes of midnight. The difference is that this is completely true – it’s going to be extremely lucky……. for all albariño producers!

Oh, and by the way, a very happy New Year to one and all.

One of the greatest ever marketing coups in Spanish history has to be the “tradition” of eating grapes for good luck at New Year. The idea is that at midnight on 31st December as the clock strikes midnight Spaniards eat a grape with each chime of the clock – 12 per person (which is actually not as easy as it might sound). With a population of 47 million, this equates to some 564 million grapes, or a good few kilos!

And the origin of this “tradition”?  Alicante. Started in 1909 when  grape farmers needed a way to dispose profitably of the surplus grapes from that year’s unexpectedly large harvest. Since then the 12-grape custom is now observed by almost everyone in Spain, not to mention several other South American countries. Being brutally honest, this means that the whole custom is probably no more than a bit of a scam and the claim of bringing luck has no real foundation whatsoever!

This being the case I have decided to create an alternative New Year’s tradition. In future it should be considered extremely lucky to take a sip of albariño with each of the 12 chimes of midnight. The difference is that this is completely true – it’s going to be extremely lucky……. for all albariño producers!

Oh, and by the way, a very happy New Year to one and all.