Wine is fine brosura

WINE IS FINE 11-20 October 2017 Sarata Monteoru, Buzau, Romania Project co-financed by European Commission

“Wine is fine” is a youth exchange that takes place in Sarata-Monteoru, Romania, from the 10th to the 20th of October 2017. There are 8 participating countries, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Italy, Macedonia, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Spain. The project consists part of the Erasmus+ programs and it’s funded by the European Commission.

The project focused on the role that Wine plays in the life of European people, especially those from countries with a strong wine culture.

Throughout the project there will be activities such as games, workshops, discussion groups and presentations that will focus on many different aspects of wine and alcohol, from its role in European history and culture to the current problems and benefits from its consumption.

The objectives of the project are: • • • • • •

To raise awareness of the development of wine throughout European history Promote responsible drinking To explore the nutritional values of wine as well as the health risks involved with its irresponsible consumption Overall risks of heavy drinking and how it affects the emotional, social and physical aspects of our lives Try to find solutions for any problem that has been raised To understand the similarities/differences of wine consumption of each participating country

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To identify problems and possible solutions related to wine/alcohol consumption

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To raise awareness of the importance of wine in European culture and history

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Promote responsible drinking habits and its positive aspects

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Explore the problems associated with alcohol abuse

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To understand the similarities and differences of wine culture across Europe

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To explore the nutritional values of wine

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To encourage entrepreneurship in the wine sector

WINE – NECTAR OF THE GODS AND MIRACLE ON EARTH History The oldest evidence of wine production has been found in Armenia (4100 B.C.) where the oldest vinery to date was uncovered. The altered consciousness produced by wine has been considered religious since its origin. Consumption of ritual wine was part of Jewish practice since Biblical times and, as part of Eucharist commemorating Jesus became even more essential to Christian church. Wine production and consumption increased, beginning from the 15th century onwards as part of European expansion. Ancient Rome played a pivotal role in the history of wine. The rise of the Roman Empire saw both technological advances in and burgeoning awareness of wine making which spread to all parts of the empire.

Culture Wine is a big party of gastronomic and traditions: the role of wine has evolved over time changing from an important source of nutrition to a cultural complement to food and compatible with a healthy lifestyle. Cultural appreciation of wine reflects the diversity of the wine regions, the politeness and culinary habits. "Today's culture of wine must include a common stakeholder commitment to ensure that responsible and moderate drinking remains the social norm". Nowadays is consumed in 6 Continents.

Society Wine is a magical drink that brings people together. Drinking wine allow us to forget the problems, relax, give us courage and creating new relationships. Wine is not only a magical drink , wine is a way of life. We can dedicate our lives to produce it for other people. We can be sommeliers and enjoy it every day and every moment. We can be professionals and present unbelievable wines at exhibitions and fairs. In this way we live in constant contact with nature. The grapes come from the earth, and this one from the nature. We use the grapes to turn it into wine. With the consumption of this drink we are in contact with nature.

Countries RO- Viticulture dates back more than 6000 years; Oldest wine traditions in the world; Viticulture became a current activity in the hilly areas; "Phylloxera" was accidentally introduced in Romania; Exports wine since Roman empire.

IT- Viticulture was introduced in south Italy with the Greek colonization around 800B.C; Wine is culture; Each region has its own typical wine and its recommended to drink red wine with food that has strong flavors while white one with lighter tastes such as seafood and fish.

SP- Wine was Picasso's muse; Biggest extension of cultivated wine; They are used to drink it with tapas; Young Spanish people are replacing wine for beer; 3rd largest wine producer.

PT- Exports wine since Roman empire; First vineyard was planted in Portugal 2000 a.c; Best conditions to the grow and development of "vitis vinifera", the grape used to produce wine.

BG- First geographical wine region; Second largest exporter in the world after France; Churchill was among the costumers who continuously ordered barrels of the local red Bulgarian wine.

MCD- 3 wine regions (1 officially); more than 70 vineries; oldest vinery is Vila Maria; 14th February- holiday know for the traditional pruning of vineyards (St. Trifon's Day); Wine is not just a drink it's more of a lifestyle; People are great consumers; Can't be sold after 9pm which is kind of a problem if you didn't buy wine previously.

SLO- Wine production started between 5th and 4th century B.C; Annual wine festival for the last 20 years; Drink 44l of wine p/p per year; Top 15 country in wine consumption.

CY- Cyprus wine history goes back 4000 years according to ancient findings; Has the oldest named wine; Exporting sector in Cyprus is one of the biggest in the island – but decreasing yearly; 21 different varieties of wine.

Is Wine Fine in your country? Which, when and where?

Short Individual National Research The wine is a beverage famous around the planet. Of course all the different populations have many habits, traditions and rules about wine. Before coming to Romania, each national group asked about 15 people, some questions regarding what, why, where they consume alcohol and wine in particular.

First of all, it emerged that the official age in which that it is allowed to consume alcohol in Europe is 18 years old. On the other hand, a weird fact is that “we do not care about the law�, so we start drinking as soon as we reach the age of 13-14. These are the ages when teenagers throughout the continent appear to enjoy nightlife.

We observed that there is a mere division between teenagers and adults in terms of testimonies. The first category appears to prefer vodka and beer, while at the same time adults are mostly attracted to wine. In addition it emerged that Italians and Macedonians prefer red wine, while Bulgarians and Portuguese prefer white wine.

In addition, we observed that it is common for Europeans to drink a glass of wine or a small beer every day, mostly during the meals. On the weekends it is normal for people to drink a little bit ore just to have fun.

Also, in difference with other kinds of drinks, such as strong spirits (vodka, scotch etc.), almost everybody likes wine, because it is connected with our culture and it is considered normal.

To conclude, for Europeans, the kind of beverage consumed it is not as important as drinking with good company!

"World Cafe" is a method used for teams to do a thorough research on the specific factors of an issue.

Divided into groups by topic, everyone has the opportunity in the process to support and to contribute in every aspect of the issue being processed.

A coordinator facilitates each topic and the rest of the participants discuss about it in terms.

We practiced this method in the frame of our project focusing on the effects that irresponsible drinking can cause to our lives in different aspects.

Effects at Mental level Starting with the mental effects that this kind of habit can apply to a person, the participants stated that: Positive: - Alcohol can boost someone’s creativity leading to masterpieces we all get to enjoy afterwards.

Many artists were driven by the mental effects to produce pieces of art or gems in science we today praise them about.

- Drinking can make people happy. In favorable conditions it can enhance our positive cells and help us have fun. But irresponsible drinking almost always has the opposite outcome on the longterm.

Negative: - Concentration can be limited and distorted after excessive drinking. We might experience short or longer "blackouts" of memory or limited memory loss due to lack of concentration.

- It's a common phenomenon for people to act violently after consuming too much alcohol.

Aggressive behavior can lead to collisions and arguments between strangers or even friends and family. The same mental state can also lead to lack of actions control, causing even criminal behavior expressed at different levels.

- Numbness can be caused through limited brain functions leading to body weakness and difficulty in movement.

Effects at Physical level: As participants observed in the previous section, mental malfunctions send limited or distorted information to our bodies, so we tend to have limited control. Excessive drinking can affect: -Vision - reactions - mouth smell - dehydration - cold resistance - nausea and vomiting (stomach disorder) - sexual functions - heart arrhythmia -numbness

Effects in Social level Relationships can be formed after drinking a couple of glasses, but irresponsible drinking is able to destroy any relationship we've ever formed!

Getting addicted can of course impact our economic situation in a negative way and also our social acceptance after specific times of "weakness" that can build a negative reputation about our individual.

Solutions Any form of alcohol and especially wine can affect us in a positive way if it's consumed responsibly.

Irresponsible drinking though, is a serious problem and it has to be faced ant tackled before it's too late. On the last section of our "World Cafe" activity, we discussed about possible solutions to this issue.

We all agreed that education is the core of solving any problem and especially this kind. Informal education is an important tool, as long as schools and similar institutions. Home education is highly important too, since the parents and in general the people in our environment must act as positive role models in our lives.

Governments can and has to play an important role in facing the problem on a wide scale. It is proposed to them to regulate the situation through laws, provide alternatives (hobbies, non alcoholic drinks bars, physical activities, etc.), enforce education and support individual programs in municipalities.

Campaigns can also be organized by NGOs or independent teams in order to raise awareness about the issue. Social or traditional media campaigns, using role models/public influencers as ambassadors.

Learning about Wine at its Finest

Sommelier’s Visit-Learning from the best On day four sommelier (wine tasting professional) came to explain the role of wine tasting.The group had the opportunity to learn about the right way of tasting, choosing and experiencing different Romanian wines.

After the visit we asked people about this experience: “ It was interesting because I learned different types of wine like dry, semi dry,demi sweet and sweet,how to tell them apart and how to recognize different aromas.”

“I liked rose the most because it was very sweet and fruity.”

“It was really fun because I learned new things about Romanian wine through funny history stories.”

Presentation about Cosumption of Wine and Health Benefits One of our members,Ioanna Masoura,is a Nutritionist,specialist in Public Health Nutrition. We had a chance to ask her about dangers and benefits of wine consumption on our health.

Especially,wine is one of the most popular alcoholic drinks because it is really good source of antioxidants called flavonoids(such as,resverantol).

Studies have shown that these substances reduce the risk of heart disease as well as may have a positive impact on prevention of different types of cancer. Finally,she underlined that the health benefits come from moderate wine consumption.

Visit to the High School of Economics in Buzau On day six we had the opportunity to visit the Economic high school in Buzau and we applied a questionnaire in order to examine the amount of alcohol consumption among the young people,how often they drink etc. During the visit we talked with students and shared ideas about alcohol consumption. Also,students had the chance to practice the English language.

Visit to the Muddy Volcanoes On the seventh day we traveled to “Muddy Volcanoes”. During the visit the group had an amazing experience as there were active mud volcanoes. The whole landscape consists of a very unique and impressive phenomenon. Volcanoes are typically a few centimeters high and are caused by the combination of geological liquids and natural gases.

Visit to the Pietroasa Winery – The oldest research winery in Europe!

Also, on day seven we visited the famous winery Pietroasa where we learned about different kinds of wines as well as tried them in a private meeting.

Wine is even Finer when you having a great time!

Besides the main program,the was also a cultural agenda,where the participants had the chance to share their tradition and learn more about other coutries.

The first night was dedicated to ice breaking and socializing with some help from the wine.

Then,it was time to travel around Europe:Intergalactic nights,meaning traditional food,drinks and presentations hosted by participant from other countries. We started with Macedonia,Cyprus,Portugal and Romania.

After a day of rest,we continued on our journey with Spain,Italy,Slovakia and Bulgaria.

The next evening,the party was called Best party ever.It could have been the typical sort of party you go to on a Saturday night,but it wasn’t. We held a very multicultural party,with “traditional” party songs from all the different countries,like “Andiamo Comandare” , “Dragostea din Tei” and of course, “Despacito”.We also did traditional dances workshop. Overall,it was an amazing way to increase our knowledge about other countries in a relaxed,informal and fun way.

The fifth night: Wine evening This was the night everybody was looking forward to! Every country presented it’s most famous wines and we managed to gather 43 bottles of wine,one for every participant.

The next night: Barbeque!

After much wine tasting,it was time for some popular Romanian activitu: grilling. We started off with a nice tzuika drinking workshop and then we’ve let the fire run free. Micii was the highlight of the night.

Right up: Chilling night This one was more about uniwinding and having a pleasant night together. We had a great time playing Cards against Humanity,a game that is a much fun as it is offensive.

Fine Wine Loving participants comment: Ioanna, Cyprus: ‘it was an amazing experience and being outside my comfort zone I felt really proud of myself that I was able to go through with it. Furthermore, I learned a lot of things about wine and had the experience of trying lots of different varieties of Romanian wine. I definitely recommend this projects to people.’

Mina, Italy: ‘I feel very happy because I had the experience of meeting amazing people and I know I will see them again one day. The activities are very interesting.’

Miguel, Spain: ‘I liked this experience a lot because I met new people and I learned about wine.’

Tiago, Portugal: “It has been a great experience and I had the chance to learn more about the interesting topic, wine. I had the opportunity to learn from people with a different backgrounds, realities and cultures”.

Tudor, Romania: “It has been a pleasure accidentally learning Spanish”.

Domen and Katja, Slovenia: “it was a good opportunity to meet people from different countries and try their wine, as well as get to know about their cultures. We hope that we can participate in more projects like this one”.

Siana, Bulgaria: “This was a great opportunity to learn more about the wine and the production of wine, to evolve my English skills and talk with people from different countries. So far, this was the most interesting experience in my life”.

Keti, Macedonia: “It was a nice chance to fulfill the days with interesting workshops, great discussions with diverse people and adventures in one beautiful surrounding like Buzau is.

Also, theory confirmed, wine is fine”.

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission This publication (communication) reflects the views only of the author and the commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.