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 A group of judges tasting at Michelangelo International Wine and Spirits Awards in Stellenbosch were visiting the Terroir Restaurant adjacent to the Kleine Zalze Winery on the outskirts of the city. We were to taste the Zalze wines which were also to be served with dinner at reportedly one of the ten best rated restaurants in South Africa.
While tasting 5-6 different wines I glanced at one of the labels on the back bottles. It read: Enjoy Responsibly. UK Chief Medical Officers recommend adults do not regularly exceed: Men 3-4 units a day, Women 2-3 units a day. Alongside was the graphic of a bottle that showed 10.1 Units mentioned inside. Drinkaware.co.uk. was printed in bold letters. At the bottom was, Alcohol Abuse is dangerous to your health. There is also a graphic warning suggesting it should not be consumed by pregnant women.
I noticed this only on a couple of labels-with only the Units mentioned being different -so it meant the regulation was not for all South African Wines. On checking up with Alistair Rimmer, the cellar master and winemaker of Klein Zalze, I was told that those bottles might have been from a lot destined for UK where it is a legal requirement to print the Units and the Recommendatory advisory.
Recommended Units of Alcohol
Wine is good for heart health-but only when taken in moderation. After a couple of drinks the harmful effects of alcohol kick in and one is liable to suffer from various alcohol related problems including liver disease and cancer. Alcohol content is expressed as a percentage of the whole drink in the bottle. Every wine bottle indicates the alcohol content by volume- if it is 14% ABV it means 14% volume in the bottle is pure alcohol. (Whisky with 40% ABV has similarly 40% of the quantity in the bottle as alcohol.)
 So how much alcohol and how much quantity should one drink? This is not convenient for everyone to calculate. A glass of wine can be 100 mL or it can be-believe it or not, 375 mL in UK. So the UK government has devised a formula that guides you in terms of Units-based on the alcoholic strength of wine and in fact all alcohols. It is obligatory to print this information on the back label.
The recommended quantity is always the same- men 3-4 units a day and women 2-3 units-because of their physical constitution and perhaps due to the probability of breast cancer for women. Based on the alcohol content, units change- there are around 10 units a bottle-higher the alcohol content, higher the units. Since the recommended units are the same, it stands to reason, that the more the units, less the quantity you should consume to stay within the recommended units
Advisory in Australia
In Australia the similar Advisory is followed as I noticed in all the labels of wines we opened for a recent dinner with Hardys wines. As the Brand Ambassador William Hardy explained to me, all wines need to have the total number of Units on the back label. Interestingly, he says the advisory works in the wrong direction sometimes. The consumer looking  at two bottles in a retail shop tends to buy the one with higher alcohol Units thinking more units mean there is more ‘stuff’ in the wine and it is better value!
Advisory for Indian consumers
In India, the government tends to treat wine as hard liquor. Keeping the health benefits in mind it ought to encourage consumption of wine as compared to liquor. But the negative impact of alcohol cannot be overlooked. Rather than insisting on the statutory warning that alcohol consumption is injurious to health, it makes more sense to give a guideline in terms of Units. The label in UK and Australia, of course graphically warns pregnant women against consuming wine. This is understandable as a precaution though studies indicate that a glass or two -3-4 units a week, not taken at one time is not harmful for pregnant women.
It must be understood that this would be an advisory. The UK medical authorities clearly mention ‘do not regularly exceed’-implying that one does not need to be dogmatic about the quantity. Just as FSSAI does not need to be dogmatic and insist that the wine shipments will be rejected if the label does not mention this advisory on the labels. A time frame of 3-5 years should be given before this can be enforced.
We may be a few months or years away from this advice being taken seriously by the government but we are barely a click away from www.drinkaware.co.uk , the website which has nuggets of information that are useful to wine drinkers-and other drinkers as well for keeping healthy and help avoid excessive drinking.
Subhash Arora |