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Oz and James Big Wine Adventure aired in 2006 and was a great insight to the light hearted side of wine. |
There may be more young wine drinkers now than ever - who drink stuff that's just passable as plonk when they get together with friends - but the sad reality of this is its just because wine can get you very drunk very quickly.
Eventually, a few people do get to a point when they think "If I knew a little more about wine, I could buy something that tastes better" - and for someone who has that spark, along with the motivation to actually find a source of information that is engaging and informative, they will benefit a lot and hopefully begin to really enjoy what they are drinking.
However, it is a very small percentage of people that care and it is the "don't give a shit" attitude which is the reason why the UK has such a strange relationship with booze, especially when you compare with countries like France, Spain and Italy.
However, it is a very small percentage of people that care and it is the "don't give a shit" attitude which is the reason why the UK has such a strange relationship with booze, especially when you compare with countries like France, Spain and Italy.
"How come the attitude in these arcane foreign lands are so different to our own then?" I hear someone at the back with a heavy cockney accent ask. Well until recently England hasn't exactly been considered a wine producing country, so the difference is that in France (for example) the stuff is everywhere.
I'm not saying that in France younger people don't have exactly the same attitude towards their drink as people in the UK but it is much easier at an earlier age to make that progression into building your knowledge about the subject in a country with a wine producing history. The problem is that there is no real incentive for anyone to want to explore wine here and a lot of people won't, unless they have parents who have a keen interest in it and pass that on.
I'm not saying that in France younger people don't have exactly the same attitude towards their drink as people in the UK but it is much easier at an earlier age to make that progression into building your knowledge about the subject in a country with a wine producing history. The problem is that there is no real incentive for anyone to want to explore wine here and a lot of people won't, unless they have parents who have a keen interest in it and pass that on.
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Supporting English wine producers such as Gusbourne Estate is essential for developing the attitude towards wine in the UK |
For example; instead of making life as hard as possible for Oz and James to do another series of their 'Big Wine Adventure' the TV folks should have encouraged it, and if they had the backing from the powers that be, people might turn the telly on and think "What's this wine stuff all about then?" They might even learn something whilst enjoying a programme that makes wine less of a drug and more of an interest - perfect!
Realistically, most ordinary young folk don't know that there is anything to know about wine. Generally, all that people see is the stuff that's on the shelf at the supermarket. Support from the media is exactly what is needed just to show people that there is more to know about the grapey stuff, without over-worrying that it's an alcoholic product so we'll all become addicts. All it takes is a small spark in someone's mind, a little glimmer that there is something more to know and in time, that spark will grow. In this country, we just need to figure out how to get that spark in the first place, without getting over excited and bombarding people with information.
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If you drink more than your recommended daily allowance, this could be your life. |
And it isn't the older generation this will most dissuade (who thankfully have lived through better times in the wine world, so are better equipped to make their own decisions), it's the up-and-coming wine drinkers. If you treat wine as nothing but a worrying abv percentage, that is how young people will grow to see it - and then how will you engage them past the appeal of a quick path to shitfacedville?
Wine is an interesting, exciting and inspiring subject. It is great to be able to drink good wine and it is a pleasure to learn about. I think it is evident that there is a big gap in the market for someone who is a reputable name in the wine world and who really knows their stuff to create a new way of looking at wine, simply by creating an easy way of learning about it at a very basic level. Someone who can keep it light and not forget the fun and who won't make something either aimed at completely the wrong audience or just totally patronising.
Either way, someone is missing a trick and until people can easily find a way like this of learning about wine, our country's attitude to the stuff is never going to change, meaning English producers may not get the growth they deserve and if people continue not to care what they drink, Britain's binge drinking culture will win. And we don't want that do we?
Anyone else fancy a Jager-bomb?
Leave a comment below or on our twitter or facebook and let us know what you think the future holds for the uk wine industry.
Freddy Bulmer
Photos taken from QuaffableUK, the mocs and In Focus photostreams under the creative commons license
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