One of the most interesting panels at Vinitaly was on the topic of the anti-alcohol movement and its impact on consumers. The panellists also discussed ways to push back against disinformation.
The mood at Vinitaly this year matched the warm spring weather of Verona, with the fair buzzing with ideas and visitors. The general programme included discussions about the threats from the health lobby and the opportunities for alcohol-free wines. A report from Meininger’s.
Robert Joseph looks at a phenomenon that rarely gets discussed — the discomfort some people, including wine professionals, suffer after drinking a glass or two of red.
When a host says 'can I get you a drink?', they're rarely offering No-Lo wines or sparkling tea. Robert Joseph suggests that, despite not containing any alcohol, these are ‘drinks' too – and deserve rather more recognition than they're currently given.
Robert Joseph suggests that, if the wine industry is to combat the threat of Neo-Prohibitionism, it needs to work together with producers of other forms of alcohol, to create a strategy, acknowledge some of its own failings, and to understand where its foes are coming from.
As the US celebrates 90 years since the repeal of Prohibition, Robert Joseph looks back at the history of liquor bans globally and wonders if they are really a thing of the past.
It’s got a wine-growing history that dates back to the Roman world. It’s got more than 220 authorised grape varieties over 55,000 hectares of vineyards, and it’s one of the most exciting wine-growing countries in Europe.
