Not against beer

Anyway. TV3 broadcast the New Year's Eve chimes, and the presenters toasted with beer, which, naturally, has caused the industry to foam at the mouth, and not from hops. There are few occasions when it's clear that cava should be present, and New Year's Eve is one of them.

I like beer, and I know we won't win any wars against it. Young people drink it. They don't have to worry about finding the right glass. They'll chug it straight from the bottle, if necessary. It has a low alcohol content. It's sold in individual containers. It's cheap. If you order it, no know-it-all will bother you with any explanation. You can find it in any bar. "Let's have a beer" is synonymous with "Let's chat." It has everything.

Alongside beer, and not against it, we must remember that we are a country of wine and sparkling wine. The sheer volume of work generated by grapes (for sommeliers, teachers, bartenders, winemakers, farmers, transporters, auctioneers, chefs, livestock breeders, designers, press officers, translators, cork manufacturers, coopers...) and, above all, the order they bestow upon our landscape are of paramount importance. We cannot afford to miss any opportunity to promote this, especially at a time when alcohol laws are becoming stricter.

I think it's perfectly understandable to be angry. I understand that beer pays. But I think—I'm thinking for myself—that instead of dipping bread and starting arguments that only cause friction, what we should do today is open a bottle of sparkling wine with three loved ones. I always say that young people should experience the ancestral (a sparkling wine with a single fermentation: inside the bottle). It's fun, sweet, informal; many wineries with wonderful, high-end ranges of Cava, Corpinnado, or Clásico (yes, yes, I need an Excel spreadsheet too, just like you) make it. Often, the bottle is a cap, like with beer.

Next year, we'll ring in the New Year with Ancestral. And today, at home, too.