Page 39 - Terčelj, Dušan. 2015. The Culture of Wine in Slovenia. Edited by Aleš Gačnik. University of Primorska Press, Koper.
P. 39
culture of
wine drinking
What is culture? What is wine?
Wine is a beverage with exceptional qualities and a special status. It is consumed by both
manual labourers at work and top diplomats when concluding important international
agreements. Wine acquired its privileges through its historical role and its rich array of
properties. It helped shape European culture and has accompanied it throughout. For most
Europeans, wine is not just a consumer good – we feel an emotional connection with it.
The richness of its components, in particular polyphenols and aromatic substances, offers
a diversity of aromas and qualities. These two facts speak about the culture of wine. And
the culture of wine means talking about our attitude to wine and wine being a subject of
enjoyment.
The culture of a nation, population or society changes: it was different in the past from
what it is now and what it will be in the future. If culture consists of customs, habits and
way of life, it is influenced by the environment in which we live. This is why wine-drinking
habits of Slovenes in the winegrowing areas of the Primorje region are different from those
in Alpine areas without grapevines and in pre-Alpine winegrowing localities, and different
again in places where the pre-Alpine hills drop down to the plains along the rivers Drava,
Sava and Krka.
We talk about low and high levels of culture, depending on a society’s level of development.
Drinking habits have improved along with society as a whole and are now better than they
were a hundred years ago. But sadly, society and culture do not always go hand-in-hand,
they sometimes part company. If we look at the previous century – a century of warped
ideologies and the horrors of war – we can see great technological progress alongside a
sharp fall in the level of general culture. Unfortunately, even today, when the level of social
development in Slovenia is high, there are disparities in the enjoyment of wine drinking:
a large number of Slovenes persist in getting thoroughly intoxicated on excursions and at
parties.
I believe that the study of the culture of wine, past and present, is immensely useful in
enabling wine consumers to drink wisely and moderately. My aim is not to produce a
scientific study based on a multitude of data, but to offer advice on how to enable the
refined consumption of wine.
35
wine drinking
What is culture? What is wine?
Wine is a beverage with exceptional qualities and a special status. It is consumed by both
manual labourers at work and top diplomats when concluding important international
agreements. Wine acquired its privileges through its historical role and its rich array of
properties. It helped shape European culture and has accompanied it throughout. For most
Europeans, wine is not just a consumer good – we feel an emotional connection with it.
The richness of its components, in particular polyphenols and aromatic substances, offers
a diversity of aromas and qualities. These two facts speak about the culture of wine. And
the culture of wine means talking about our attitude to wine and wine being a subject of
enjoyment.
The culture of a nation, population or society changes: it was different in the past from
what it is now and what it will be in the future. If culture consists of customs, habits and
way of life, it is influenced by the environment in which we live. This is why wine-drinking
habits of Slovenes in the winegrowing areas of the Primorje region are different from those
in Alpine areas without grapevines and in pre-Alpine winegrowing localities, and different
again in places where the pre-Alpine hills drop down to the plains along the rivers Drava,
Sava and Krka.
We talk about low and high levels of culture, depending on a society’s level of development.
Drinking habits have improved along with society as a whole and are now better than they
were a hundred years ago. But sadly, society and culture do not always go hand-in-hand,
they sometimes part company. If we look at the previous century – a century of warped
ideologies and the horrors of war – we can see great technological progress alongside a
sharp fall in the level of general culture. Unfortunately, even today, when the level of social
development in Slovenia is high, there are disparities in the enjoyment of wine drinking:
a large number of Slovenes persist in getting thoroughly intoxicated on excursions and at
parties.
I believe that the study of the culture of wine, past and present, is immensely useful in
enabling wine consumers to drink wisely and moderately. My aim is not to produce a
scientific study based on a multitude of data, but to offer advice on how to enable the
refined consumption of wine.
35
