Bid to promote wine culture to French children

Moves are afoot in France to teach children as young as six about wine making and the culture of wine. According to the French wine industry which is behind the move, the initiative is needed because current ‘antialcohol’ public policies mean that French children are being denied knowledge of their wine heritage.

As reported in Decanter.com, which describes itself as the world’s best wine magazine, The Bordeaux Wine Bureau (CIVB) has launched a programme called La Gironde Verte with regional junior schools, which can apply to send students to local vineyards. The programme is aimed at junior school students from ages 6 to 10 or 11.

With the help of various booklets, pupils are taught to identify different seasons in the vines, are prompted to taste grapes to see if they are ripe, and are given questions to ask winemakers such as “What’s your favourite piece of equipment?” and “What do you like most and least about your job?”

Separate booklets are provided to teachers, winemakers, and local mayors explaining the aims of the programme and what it would mean to create a Vign’école or Vine School.

CIVB president Georges Haushalter told Decanter.com, “We are hoping this will be an effective way to introduce the young people of our region to the environmental and economic importance of the wine industry.” He added: “Our objective is to protect the heritage of our region, while promoting an understanding of the civilisation of wine.”

Additionally, a book ‘Vines and Wines: A World to Discover’ aims to tell 7 to12-year-olds how lucky they are to live in a country where the culture of the vine plays such an important role.

With the help of illustrations it explains the cycle of vinegrowing and the cultural role that wine plays in France, and tells the story of wine from the Romans to the present day.

Editor Emmanuelle Garcia, whose idea the book was, told Decanter.com that “France’s draconian anti-alcohol laws meant children weren’t learning about wine as they should”.

“We felt there were increasing gaps in the knowledge being transmitted to our children about the cultural role of wine. There has been no negative reaction so far, but we will see… I explain each time that we are not promoting wine itself, but explaining a culture. We have really worked hard at ensuring the layout and language of the book is clear. This is about the heritage of France.”

An initial run of 200,000 copies has been printed, with plans to export the book to Quebec and other French-speaking countries. The publisher is also considering an English translation.

Commenting on the initiatives for The Globe, Claude Riviere, Responsible for European and International Affairs for ANPAA (Assocation Nationale de Prevention en Alcoologie et Addictologie) said:

“What the editors call ‘France’s draconian anti-alcohol laws’ are Public Health laws voted by parliament and which aim to protect people and especially youngsters from alcohol marketing. Since the laws were adopted, the alcohol industry and the wine producers have constantly tried to have the laws rescinded by lobbying the members of parliament. Is this behaviour worthy of people who claim to educate our children? Under the guise of environmental education the industry is trying to promote an alcoholic culture.”