Between education and responsibility, let's not “abdicate” the convivial pleasure of wine

If you have to drive, the best thing is not to drink at all: this is always the case, but the topic has returned to the center of the debate after the introduction of the new Highway Code, of which WineNews explained what changes and what remains the same on the subject of alcohol and driving, together with lawyer Marco Giuri. Because it is not that one has to give up the convivial pleasure of wine, as the sharp drop in consumption that so many, including restaurateurs, producers and distributors, denounce due to the “panic effect” that, as is always the case in these cases, has followed, due to the increase in controls. Suppose one goes out to lunch or dinner, as a couple, as a family or as a group, in order not to give up the pleasure of sharing a glass of wine (also following the same tables on the subject from the National Institute of Health). In that case, a good practice is to choose the one who will be the “teetotaler” on duty and will take the lead, perhaps taking turns on subsequent occasions (as indeed many, young and old, already do). Alternatively, one can inquire whether there are public means of transportation available - buses, but also a cab to share the expense of - or whether, as is beginning to happen, the venues themselves do not provide ad hoc shuttle services, before resorting to “renting with a driver”. Establishments that, with the collaboration of the wine world and taking advantage of the opportunity to improve their services, promote conscious consumption and wine culture, are launching ideas for their customers, such as offering more wines served by the glass or the possibility of taking home the unfinished bottle of wine, but also to “self-measure”, to avoid surprises, with instruments such as breathalyzers of which restaurateurs and venue managers are returning to equip themselves (and which also in a “portable” version to keep in the car at all times have existed for some time and are coming out in great variety on the market).
In the part about the penalties for drunk driving in the new Highway Code that came into effect a few days before the holidays, the limits for penalties have not changed from those already established since 2010: below 0.5 blood alcohol level, or grams of alcohol per liter of blood, there are none, except for novice drivers and some professional categories, then it goes from 0.5 to 0.8 for a first step, up to 1.5 for another step, and over 1.5 for the last “rate”. The biggest change is the alcolock, which does not start the engine and will have to be mandatorily installed, at one's own expense, for those found with a blood alcohol level of 0.8 and above (but the implementing decree to make the measure operational is still missing, ed.).
But, between caution and road safety, fear of being without a driver’s license, and incurring salty and even criminal penalties, the choice to drink must be accompanied by “critical awareness”, according to the most appropriate definition given to “common sense”, by the Italian Academy of Vine and Wine, who spoke with an interesting and in-depth report on the topic of wine consumption, the relationship with health, the growth of dealcoholic wines and the revision of policies to regulate alcohol consumption, worldwide.
A debate that should not represent a further limitation for the sector, torn between health alerts, transparent labels, geopolitical duties, and changing consumption, but a new opportunity that confirms how wine at the table, which has always been part of our culture, is distinguished from the rest of alcoholic beverages by the way we are used to consuming it, in moderation, which we appreciate for its qualities, but also as a significant element of the gastronomic culture of which everyone, transversally, is passionate about. A culture that is based on a healthy lifestyle, based on a balanced diet, avoiding processed foods, accompanied by regular exercise. And in which wine itself is a food that is part of our table, consumed with meals or at any rate always accompanied by food.
But we cannot forget that it is also a “social” drink, bringing people together and creating community through the sharing of emotions as well, a value that goes beyond the wine itself, as we have always told. A chalice, and we emphasize a chalice, on whose consumption most doctors and scientists also agree. The role of communication is to inform people correctly, but also to make them think and provide them with the necessary tools to reason and decide. At this time, it is also fundamental to sustain the world of wine for the general public. A communication that reduced to the jokes of a post or to the time of “reel”, but also to a handful of seconds on TV, can instead lead to the opposite effect, which is to frighten and “terrorize” people who, not having the time to inform themselves calmly and thoroughly, prefer to give up directly even drinking a single glass of wine, instead of doing so with the necessary moderation (or self-measuring to be even safer). Always remembering that, as the Swiss physician Paracelsus argued as far back as the 16th century, “it is the dose that makes the poison”, and that, even in moderation (stressing that this applies to everyone and everything), one must be aware but also informed.