For years now, Australian wine producers have registered the number of standard drinks included in each bottle of wine. This initiative was developed to help communicate a wine’s alcoholic content in a way that drinkers would understand. While I am still amazed at the number of experienced wine drinkers with no concept at all of the standard drink, something that has also been challenged by the plethora of over-sized wine glasses evident today, this initiative has finally spilled over into the area where it is perhaps needed to a greater extent Ð wine casks. The cask wine market still accounts for 38.5% of wine sales in Australia but is largely viewed as its accidental child. It is undoubtedly the wine industry’s weakest link when it comes to the alcoholic taxation debate, which is presently undergoing its usual ten-year hiatus.So it’s a good idea that this industry segment has caught up with the bottled wine market by following a concept sponsored by the Winemakers Federation of Australia (WFA) to sell wine casks that feature diagrams indicating the size of a standard drink. Found on the side pouring panel of the cask is a picture indicating the size of an average glass of wine and how many standard drinks it amounts to. So congratulations to those who manage the brands of Banrock Station, Berri, Coolabah, Hardys, Renmano, Sunnyvale, Stanley, Yalumba and those who follow them, for they are doing something constructive to educate consumers about responsible alcohol consumption. The industry just needs to communicate better what a standard drink actually means.
