Don’t swallow urges Bordeaux festival

The organisers of the biennial Fête le Vin were so concerned about this year’s festival being associated with alcohol abuse that they encouraged festival-goers to only taste, and not swallow the wine.

Stéphan Delaux, deputy mayor and festival president said: “This festival is not for drinking, it is for discovering and tasting wine.”

The measures come in the wake of six young men drowning in the city’s river, the Garonne, this year. The last was only a few days before the festival, and a student was rescued from the water in the nick of time on Thursday night.

The organisers of the five-day event, which attracted an estimated half-a-million wine connossieurs, took no chances, laying on extra floodlighting, barriers and CCTV, with police divers, a speedboat and jet skis on standby. Tasting sizes were also cut down from 70ml to 50ml this year – but a pass still allows sampling of 13 glasses, or a total of 650ml.

Le binge is becoming an increasingly recognised problem in France, with a spate of alcohol-related deaths among young people in other large cities in recent years. Although its name hints that it is still seen as an imported British phenomenon, authorities, especially those in a such a drink-related city as Bordeaux, are under mounting pressure to put heavy controls and warnings in place.

But critics warn against scapegoating wine, and that attention needs to turn to the increased consumption of shots, drinking multiple pints with no food and Facebook-organised outdoor aperitif parties.