Wine capital Vienna

Dear partners,

to put you into the proper mood for the next meeting in Vienna (January 24/25, 2013) we intend to provide you with some facts about the 

Wine Capital Vienna

-        145 000 wine-bottles of Vienna wine were exported last year mainly to the States, 66 000 wine-bottles arrived New York.

-         There are 228 wine-growers in our capital.

           Favourite are the Mixed Set, Veltliner and Riesling; red wines – particularly Cuvees -  recover lost ground slowly

     The Vienna Mixed Set : At least three vines originated from the same vineyard are combined grape-gathered and processed.

         The mayor of Vienna is helping every year in the smallest vineyard.

         The smallest vineyard is situated at the Schwarzenbergplatz 2 in the town centre, this vineyard has 60 vines and is 100 years old

          Since 228 years there is in Vienna the so-called ‘Heurigen’ – culture, more details about this tradition will be provided at the beginning of the workshop in January

          32 litres of wine are consumed on the average per year by each resident of Vienna or about 90 ml per day – this is “drinking in moderation” assuming that 200 ml (2 units) for women and 300 ml (3 units) for men per day are considered as responsible drinking internationally, but again, this is an average value only!!!

          Finally, there are 700 hectares of vineyards in Vienna from ‘Bisamberg’ via the ‘Nussberg’ till the ‘Maurerberg’

 Conclusion:

          It is said that Vienna seems to be the one and only metropolis in Europe with own wine – what about your capital in partner countries ?

Prosit and kind regards from Vienna

Petra & Achim

Annotation:

Figures taken from the ‘Wiener Bezirkszeitung’ as of 17./18. October 2012

Wine culture in Austria nowadays

According to a survey conducted by IMAS – an Austrian market research institute – 37 percent of the Austrian adult population buy wine occasionally. 36 percent are quite conservative regarding their wine buying habits and prefer to stick to wines, with which they had good experience in the past. Only 22 percent are willing to taste something new. The average Austrian wine drinker sets high value on a good price-performance ratio (70%), on trust in quality (63%), on friendly personnel (55%) and on attractive special offers (54%). Also the average Austrian wine drinker prefers to consume domestic wines.

In a podium discussion organized by the biggest Austrian wine retail company the results of this survey were discussed among a group of experts consisting of a wine journalist, a famous winemaker, the author of the survey, the president of the Austrian union of sommeliers and the CEO of the wine retail company. One outcome of the discussion was that Austrians tend to buy the name of the winemaker rather than wines –meaning that the brand names are more important than the wine itself. Austria’s wine drinkers are more and more quality-conscious.

Another important point raised during the discussion was that wine is a natural stimulant actually not needed. Therefore, Austrian wine drinkers need to be captured by emotional and background stories. The “young” winemakers – nowadays not only educated in making wine, but also in marketing it – realized this opportunity and strengthened a positive image of wine culture and brought it to a bigger target group.

Today people like to talk about wine, wine becomes a leisure activity. These are reasons, why the industry around wine grows. Nowadays, wine magazines can be sold to a broader public, success stories of winemakers are finding their way to mainstream media, wine presentations are taking place in big city halls and are sold out immediately – just to mention some effects of the commercialization of the wine culture. It is trendy to be a wine drinker.

But questions remain: Is this only an Austrian trend or are there similar observations in other countries? Is this commercialization a positive trend or could this lead to a wider distribution of alcohol abuse? What accompanying measures could be undertaken to sustain this trend, but prevent people from abuse?

Italian Contest for a Responsible Drinking motto

Cramars is organizing a contest dedicated to the students who attended and are participating to the sensory analysis of wine courses in our institution.

The purpose of the contest is to stimulate the active participation of students by adding to the educational information useful for the knowledge of the wines and the region that produces them, even a critical view on responsible drinking which means the positive and negative aspects related to consumption.

The initiative includes the creation of a motto that gives a positive image of responsible consumption linked not only to the knowledge of the wine but also of the territory and its resources sensitizing both targets that means fans of this subject and those who live the alcohol topic in a non-balanced and/or prejudicial manner.

Participants have one month to submit their work to be judged by a jury of experts the 14^th December 2012.

The prizes will be distributed among the top three winners that will have the opportunity to participate in a project workshop during one of the next meeting of Responsible Drinking project.

Cramars staff is waiting with great interest for the results of the contest that will be published on this blog.

Prevention App in Germany

Young People’s Alcohol Consumption: First Smartphone-App for Prevention

Binge drinking and very young people who have to stay in hospital because of acute alcohol intoxication: alcohol-misuse is increasingly noticed as a serious problem of several young people everywhere in the country.  As part of a project called “HaLT” in the area of Osterode am Harz the specialist department for addiction and prevention related to the Diakonie of Herzberg  and the community of Bad Lauterberg started an innovative project of prevention which aims to inform young people in their living environment about alcohol and the risks: with a smartphone-app! This region takes the second place in the statistics of Lower Saxony on the item of alcohol caused admissions to hospital.

This emergency app offers information about alcohol, a simulation game and emergency aid in case of strong alcohol misuse for encouraging young people to estimate the risk of alcohol consumption and  to react in the right way in emergency cases.

A problem is not only the increasing consumption of alcohol. It is accompanied by a misjudgment of the situation.  Young people do not recognize a misuse in case of drinking a lot and they do not bring friends in hospital in case of alcohol intoxication because they see drinking a lot of alcohol as normal and that someone feel bad after having drunken  is not a wonder. That feeling bad and intoxication is a difference and that it can cause serious illnesses and in the worst case dead is not part of their way of thinking. Using the app may show them their limits and bring them to reflect about the consequences of alcohol misuse without an educational impact. That may motivate young people to assume responsibility for their selves and their friends and help them in emergency cases.

Students from the Leibniz University Hannover who study “Software Engineering” created this app.  You can get it for free on Android run Smartphones in Google Playstore under  “HaLT Alkohol Notfall”.

Vienna: The exhibition ART_AND_WINE traces the impact of wine on art over the centuries

We visited this nice and interesting exhibition on September 2nd. What we did learn:
Social drinking has always been a way to network, exchange information or bond. The ancient Greek established a refined and socially-acceptable form of drinking party - the symposium. The Teutons, however, were infamous for their heavy drinking and bad manners. Their pleasure-loving carousing was regarded as typical male behaviour, the expression of a free man and his physical, social and mental power.

16 th century drinking games featured bizarre trick vessels that allowed participants to escape from their highly regulated lives. The ruling classes demonstrated their wealth as well as their self-assurance and pride in their elevated social status. At the same time these cheerfully  and sometimes frivoluos games helped to relieve boredom. Drinking games tested a guest’s skills and reactions or made him the victim of crude pranks. During the Renaissance and the Age of Humanism the study of classical texts led to the rediscovery of ancient rites celebrated in honor of the god of wine - Dionysos/Bacchus. The exhibition presented over 100 objects from different collections and thus illustrated the cultural history of wine. At banquets and symposia it was offered to guests in precious cups and ewers. Craftsmen throughout the ages produced magnificent drinking and serving vessels; these innovative artists made cups from gold, ceramics or elaborately decorated glass, designed unusual shapes.

However, anyone, who drinks too much breaks rules and transcends borders. Animated by excessive drinking, persons assume new rules, live out their animal desires, succumb their sexual impulses - and no-one, wether man or woman, old or young is immune. Making someone drunk helps to manipulate him and to win wars, and whole people owe their existence to drunken love making. Laws were passed to attempt to control these excesses, and superstition and magic have been used in the battle against the ill effects of wine. But Bacchus always triumphs. Bacchanalia comprise music and ecstasy, dancing and madness, happiness and inebriation, love and lust, and even the god of wine himself succumbs to drunken desires.

So, the story of "responsible drinking" is a very long one...;-)
(text taken partly from the folder of the exhibition)

This year in Italy the harvest grape starts early

It's august and it's already time to harvest in Italy. In fact this summer the warm weather has done good things for the coming grape harvest. Hot days and cool nights have brought in an early crop and some vintners in the north have already begun collecting their white wine grapes.

Farmer’s organizations like Coldiretti (main italian organization) have predicted that if the current weather holds the yield will be large enough to maintain Italy’s position as the largest wine producer in the world.

Wine grapes

The harvesting of wine grapes is one of the most crucial steps in the process of winemaking. 

Traditional hand-harvesting and mechanical harvesting are the two routes that a winery can take to get the grapes off the vine and ready for crush. Hand-harvesting affords more precise selection and tends to do a better job of protecting the grape’s juice content from oxidation due to damaged skins. Mechanical harvesters allow for a more efficient, often cost-effective, process and are well-suited for large vineyards that lay on a flat patch of earth. The type of harvest - hand-picking, mechanical harvesters or a combination of the two, is largely influenced by the winemaker’s final wine style goals.

Country Analysis 2: preliminary insights

With respect to country analysis 2 we did a quick preliminary review of the seminar and training course material related to non-formal education, ie adult wine lovers and beginners.

The leading Austrian Wine Academy as a non-profit organization endorses the philosophy that ‘the more a country develops wine knowledge and culture, the more likely it is that this particular nation will expect and consume high quality wines’.

Without any deeper analysis so far, it seems to be that:

-        The training offers of the Austrian Wine Academy are mainly focused on historical, cultural and heritage aspects, sharing an interest in wine and food in the history, the varieties and the quality of Austrian wines. Topics of the Basic seminar are Austrian wine and its history within the famous wine areas, wine sensorik and wine presentation, tasting, table- and drink culture, but also aspects of viniculture, methods of vinification as well as the Austrian wine law.

-        That our target group (wine lovers and beginners) in view of trainers does not represent an endangered group with respect to misuse of wine (alcoholism).

-        The other aspects of RESDRI’s understanding what responsible drinking also means, namely health and prevention could not explicitly identified in the course material so far. We have to discuss it with our interview partners in detail as alcohol is a drug and drinking of alcohol including wine is part of our culture.

-        In countries with average income corresponding to approximately half of the world population is - according to WHO – alcohol misuse the largest risk factor of loss of years of life by illness and disability. However, the WHO is the only organ for global health to release legal binding conventions as this organization did – in the last 60 years – for breaking off epidemic diseases and tobacco consumption. This is a missed opportunity with respect to alcoholism to support countries in establishing their own legal basis.

In this respect we would like to draw your attention to a new (old) approach of alcohol prevention not aimed at zero alcohol consumption. The modern prevention training is focused on some kind of ‘controlled drinking’ by the so-called ‘droplet therapy’. Consumption reduction is standard in Great Britain and several times a year courses are offered in Germany, Austria and Switzerland; it seems to be a promising therapy complementing other established ones. Maybe RESDRI could consider this “controlled drinking” therapy under prevention http://www.spiegel.de/gesundheit/diagnose/alcoholentzug-kontrolliertes-trinken-ist besser-als-abstnenz-a-844209.html and others mentioned there.

`Resdri´ from German Point Of View

Responsible Drinking Flyer in Spanish

This is the flyer into Spanish Language

Responsible Drinking flyer in Slovenian

Responsible Drinking flyer in English

Responsible Drinking Flyer in German

Presentation_Prevention of Alcoholism/Youth Welfare

Article 1, May 2012

RESPONSIBLE DRINKING PROJECT

Partner Meeting in Hannover 18^th – 19^th April 2012

The partnership of the "RESDRI" project met for the second meeting in Hannover which was hosted by the VHS-Hannover Germany. On the first day, 15 participants from the partner´s organisations listened to the presentation of "Prevention of Alcoholism/Youth Welfare" by Frank Woike, social worker in Hannover. It is a whole year program, financed from the Municipality of Hannover, offering educational and controlling protection of young people following the idea „More fun – less alcohol“ for target groups of children and young people elder than 12; adults (parents, teachers, trainers) who are responsible for young people; schools, sports clubs, apprenticeships, retail, youth associations and institutions.  For a successful implementation of the program they cooperate with 12 partners (for example police, specialist departments for the prevention of alcohol and drug problems, the city‘s sports alliance) and the program is supported by six sponsors. The program is a mix of information and join-in actions in working fields in schools, sports-clubs, test shopping, alcohol-free cocktails (see the presentation "Prevention of Alcoholism/Youth Welfare").

All partners also visited the cellars of Duprès and Kollmeyer in Neustadt (`Schloss Landestrost´), who is the producer and dealer of (sparkling) wines (founded in 1650, still family owned).

Further, the partners also presented the results from Analysis 1: national and/or regional situation about the mapping and survey of training activities development about wine in each partner country. There had been more than 65 courses listed.

The consortium also talked about the evaluation of the project activities so far, about the next steps, the templates which need to be prepared for the mid-term report and about the meeting evaluation. The next meeting will be in Granada in Spain, hosted by PROIN. The main topics on the third meeting will be the results of the Analysis 2: “Wine courses activities, didactic programs, contents, methodology”.

Partners has defined next meetings for 2012 and 2013:

1. October 2012 – Granada - Spain
2. January 2013 – Wien – Austria
3. April 2013 – Slovenia
4. June 2013 – Graz – Austria

Olga Pregl, Vedoma, May 2012

Responsible Drinking Flyer in Italian

We have translated into italian the original flyer.

Responsible Drinking group on Flickr

Here an example of what you can see in our Responsible Drinking group on Flickr. At the moment you can find some pics of S. Floriano Workshop that took place on September 2011. Enjoy http://www.flickr.com/groups/1886884@N25/