Have you ever been more confused than the times we are in as we are being bombarded with studies, research, and overwhelming amounts of information when it comes to health and wellness?
As we try to navigate our personal lives when it comes to health, it seems that everyday there is something new being advised to us. Regardless of what you subscribe to for better living and health, the decline in wine and alcohol consumption is happening at an all time high. We saw an obvious and unusual spike in consumption during the Covid years, but the exact opposite is happening as we speak.
There are a few movements such as the ‘Non-Alc’ and ‘Dry January’ that are steadily increasing in participation. One of the first things that consumers will cut out of their lifestyle for improving their health is alcohol. Now, these studies are pretty vague about the profile of the consumers who need to cut down or eliminate alcohol. It seems to us that these studies are referring to individuals who are abusing or over consuming alcohol. At the same token, they could be consuming wine and alcoholic beverages that are highly processed. Yes, most big brand wines are extremely processed, with additives, dyes, synthetic sugars, and chemicals to achieve flavors and textures.
What the industry isn’t really speaking of is that there are much better choices that don’t have all the junk that we mentioned. For example, The European Union does not allow a majority of these artificial ingredients that are allowed in winemaking in the U.S. and around the world, thus making their wines much cleaner. At the same token, the majority of wine production from Greece are from sustainable practices that include organic farming, biodynamic and low intervention production, non-animal protein filtering (this is the vegan wine movement), and recycling.
In Greece and other European nations, we don’t see these extreme consumer trends such as ‘non-alc’ and ‘Dry January’. The approach there is in moderation socially and while dining, combined with cleaner wines. You can still enjoy a glass or two of cleaner wines at the table without feeling guilty or having a negative impact on your health with a mindful approach.
Cheers to cleaner drinking!