CASTLE GARDENS & WINE THIS WEEKEND

Starting on Friday at 8.00pm until 1.00am and again tomorrow night at the same time, Emmanuel Delicata Winemaker will be up at the Cittadella in Victoria Gozo as part of the Lejlet Lapsi Notte Gozitana weekend celebrations. Castle Gardens, an eco-cultural festival organised by the Ministry for Gozo, has partnered up with Delicata and its range of eco friendly D.O.K. wines for people to enjoy.

Visitors to the Cittadella will have a choice of wine, food and music to enjoy, depending on their own personal preferences. To try any of the Delicata quality wines on offer all visitors have to do is purchase a wine glass for €10 (which is then theirs to keep) at any of the glass stalls and visit as many wine stalls as they like. In St. Martins Bastion Classical musicians will be performing along with red, white and rose wines and an assortment of Gozitan Ftira's, pies and fresh Ravioli.

A glass of Victoria Heights Rose Shiraz with a plate of Ravioli would be a nice choice here. Whereas in St.Michael's Bastion live bands will provide Pop music and a different selection of wines and food will be on offer. Here I would definitely recommend a glass of the medal winning Pjazza Regina red and a tasty lamb kebab. At St.Johns Bastion visitors can relax to some Chill out music and enjoy a selection from a hot & cold buffet table with their wines. There will also be a folk area in Triq il-Foss serving typical Gozitan platters.

The wine stalls will be open at 8.00pm and the live music will begin one hour later. Glasses will be sold up until midnight and the last wine poured at 12.30am. No person under the age of 17 will be sold a glass or served with wine.

The wines that will be available during this weekend's event will be D.O.K. Malta Medina white Vermentino Zibibbo, red Syrah Carignan Grenache and red Sangiovese. I.G.T. Maltese Islands Pjazza Regina red, white and rose. Gellewza Frizzante rose and Gozo's very own D.O.K. Victoria Heights Chardonnay, Merlot and rose Shiraz.

DRINKAWAREMALTA.COM

Last week at a briefing organised by the TSG (The Sense Group) on the prevention of alcohol related harm in Malta, a guest speaker, Professor Dr Emeritus Stephan Quensel, from the Department of Sociology's Institute for Drug Research (BISDRO) of the University of Bremen, compared youth drinking patterns in the EU and cautioned against the demonization of alcohol and abstention. "Drinking alcohol - and especially wine - is a genuine social culture action, it is not: drinking pure C2 H5 OH - Ethanol" he said.

Professor Quensel went on to say that "If politicians discuss alcohol prevention they usually follow a medical-psychiatric view, for example, binge drinking among youth. Out of their clinical experience, these experts start with the extreme end of drinking and tend to prevent its beginning, favouring the goal of abstinence.

"As sociologists, we start the other way around, that is, by seeing drinking as a cultural phenomenon that is culturally conditioned. The results of an EU-financed research-project with 4,000 youths in 5 European cities demonstrate the complex interplay of such cultural influences; giving hints for an alternative prevention-approach."

Stefano Fresi, another guest speaker is Chairman of the European Spirits Association (CEPS) and board member of the Comité Européen des Entreprises Vins (CEEV) works in close contact with European trade associations representing the spirit and wine industry. He spoke of EU consumption trends which have decreased considerably. In the period 1980 - 2003 the average consumption of litres of spirits per head per capita has dropped by 36%. The only countries who have seen an increase are the UK, Ireland and some Eastern European countries. He spoke about the industry projects on systems of self-regulation across the EU States and praised the TSG for its initiatives.

TSG announced its action plan to prevent alcohol-related harm in Malta during a breakfast briefing in the presence of European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Affairs, Mr John Dalli. TSG Chief Executive Mr Joseph Farrugia highlighted the challenges and guidance for action at national level to reduce the harmful use of alcohol on the Maltese islands "The core action for 2010 is the launch of www.drinkawaremalta.com which aims to provide consumer information about various aspects of drinking alcoholic beverages. We are also launching a Code of Practice which will add further proof that the alcohol industry in Malta is credible and responsible," said Mr Farrugia.