Some of you may know that I go running along our local seafront every morning – the same route used by young people returning from our local bars and discotheques. On some days I actually encounter the revellers themselves but more often I simply encounter the trail of havoc that they leave behind. Broken glass, empty bottles, plastic bags, food wrappers, emptied litter bins, broken plants and trees, and other things too unpleasant to mention. Each day our local council dutifully sends cleaners to gather up the debris, but unfortunately this carnage only leaves me with a feeling of despair….. nearly all of this misbehaviour is down to the effects of alcohol, and therefore only succeeds in damaging the reputation of our industry.

The specific reason that I feel compelled to write about this once again is that a Parliamentary Group on Alcohol Misuse, formed in the UK, is now calling for the calorie content and health risks associated with alcohol to be spelled out clearly on all wine and beer labels, in a similar style to cigarette health warnings. The group has also supported calls for a minimum price per unit of alcohol to be introduced to increase the cost of the cheapest drinks bought in supermarkets and off licences.

Unfortunately the ‘Botellon’ as it is known in Spain is fuelled by the Supermarkets, whereby drinking in bars and discotheques is supplemented by much cheaper alcohol purchased over the counter. I did read somewhere that on one of the recent Bullfighting weekends in Pontevedra (mentioned in a recent post) some 19 young people were admitted to our local hospitals with varying levels of alcoholic poisoning.

Of course, I doubt very much that these problems were caused by albariño, but unfortunately we simply find ourselves listed  in the general category of alcohol, and most of the anti-alcohol lobby does not discriminate sufficiently between the different types. After all, I’m sure that the vast majority of us are quite responsible drinkers!

Some of you may know that I go running along our local seafront every morning – the same route used by young people returning from our local bars and discotheques. On some days I actually encounter the revellers themselves but more often I simply encounter the trail of havoc that they leave behind. Broken glass, empty bottles, plastic bags, food wrappers, emptied litter bins, broken plants and trees, and other things too unpleasant to mention. Each day our local council dutifully sends cleaners to gather up the debris, but unfortunately this carnage only leaves me with a feeling of despair….. nearly all of this misbehaviour is down to the effects of alcohol, and therefore only succeeds in damaging the reputation of our industry.

The specific reason that I feel compelled to write about this once again is that a Parliamentary Group on Alcohol Misuse, formed in the UK, is now calling for the calorie content and health risks associated with alcohol to be spelled out clearly on all wine and beer labels, in a similar style to cigarette health warnings. The group has also supported calls for a minimum price per unit of alcohol to be introduced to increase the cost of the cheapest drinks bought in supermarkets and off licences.

Unfortunately the ‘Botellon’ as it is known in Spain is fuelled by the Supermarkets, whereby drinking in bars and discotheques is supplemented by much cheaper alcohol purchased over the counter. I did read somewhere that on one of the recent Bullfighting weekends in Pontevedra (mentioned in a recent post) some 19 young people were admitted to our local hospitals with varying levels of alcoholic poisoning.

Of course, I doubt very much that these problems were caused by albariño, but unfortunately we simply find ourselves listed  in the general category of alcohol, and most of the anti-alcohol lobby does not discriminate sufficiently between the different types. After all, I’m sure that the vast majority of us are quite responsible drinkers!