I fully agree with the words of the director general of Incavi, reported by colleague Jordi Bes, speaking of the fact that wine consumption is stagnating. Wine needs "less solemnity and more shared emotion," says Joan Gené. And he also says that Catalan wine is at its peak, but that "one in five consumers doesn't know where the wine they're drinking comes from, and in the case of young people, it's one in four." He attributes, of course, this decline "to the growing pronouncements and policies promoted by governments and organizations, such as the WHO," which consider that "there is no alcohol consumption with zero risk to health."
As for the WHO, I find it uncultured and frivolous to equate a bottle of wine with a bottle of vodka. It's as if someone were comparing Diamond Square with Fifty Shades of Grey, however much respect we may have for both works, certainly both literary. Many young people consider wine to be something of boomersBeer or a mojito can be drunk on the street, in a plastic cup, or from a can while you're out. We must introduce them to the ancestral tradition, which is uncorked like beer; they can pay for it, and perhaps drink without a special glass. One day, they'll get around to glasses and quiet conversations over wine. I'd add here that the decline in wine consumption is linked to the lack of cooking at home. We must make them look at it.
I often feel: "I just don't understand." But we also don't understand TV shows, clothes, or books, and yet here we do decide, quietly, what we like. To develop our tastes, with wine, we can take courses. In a course, there are other amateurs, and there are—I speak from experience—shared emotions and little solemnity. We now have the opportunity to show ourselves the varieties that leave winemakers and sommeliers abroad breathless. Picapoll, Mandón, Garnacha, Xarel·lo, Macabeo, Parellada... "You don't know what's in it," they tell us. Well, we have to know!
