Professional winemakers' and vine growers' organizations would like high school students to learn about moderate wine drinking in schools, as such courses already exist in some European countries.

They’ve already required the introduction of such courses in the high school curriculum, in which students can learn how to drink wine with moderation and how to associate it with food, according to Emil Dumitru, general manager of the National Interprofessional Wine Organization (ONIV), reports local Mediafax. The winemakers also approached the Ministry of Education on this matter, but they remain skeptical about the success of such a project.

“Within the school curriculum, we should have a very serious discussion about teaching young people the benefits of moderate wine consumption. If Romania calculated the economic impact of its health spending on all kind of cardiovascular diseases, it will find that it spends more money on treating than preventing,” said Dumitru. "I would like to see young people in clubs drink wine instead of energy drinks combined with whisky," he added.

Emil Dumitru attended the opening of the “Golden Grape” National Wine Contest that takes place this week in Alba Iulia.

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Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com