Alcohol belts of Europe

The alcohol belts of Europe are regions in Europe which are considered to be divided by association with either beer, wine or spirits (see distilled beverage).

The term "vodka belt" appeared in 1964 in a "Time" magazine article about hard drinking in Poland. [ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,938454,00.html?promoid=googlep "Roll Out the Bottle"] , "Time Magazine" 6 March, 1964 ]

Vodka belt

Being an informal term, the "vodka belt" has no established definition. However, the general definition tends to include the following states:
*Nordic States ( including Finland, Norway, Iceland, Sweden and Greenland, but not Denmark.)Alexander Stubb, [http://www.alexstubb.com/artikkelit/bw_vodka.pdf The European Vodka Wars] , a December 2006 "Blue Wings" article]
*Lithuania
*Latvia
*Estonia
*Poland [ [http://www.krakow-info.com/drinks.htm "Krakow Beverages"] at krakow-info.com ]
*Belarus
*Russia
*Ukraine

The few EU countries of the Vodka Belt produce over 70% of the EU's vodka.

Vodka belt countries generally have cold climates. The southern boundary of the "vodka belt" roughly corresponds to -2 C January isotherm. With the exception of Ukraine and some regions of southern Russia, cultivation of grapes is impossible or very difficult anywhere in the Vodka belt. Wine producing Mediterranean countries and the "vodka belt" are separated by a so-called beer belt, consisting of the British Isles, Denmark, Benelux, Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia.

In his book about the Soviet UnionAlex de Jonge, "Stalin and the Shaping of the Soviet Union", Collins, (1986), ISBN 0688047300, " [http://www.vaniercollege.qc.ca/vcta/VCTA_May06.pdf the relevant excerpt online] "] , Alex de Jonge elaborates on his concept of "geoalcoholics". In particular, he explains Russian peculiarities by their belonging to the vodka belt and the absence of the beer belt in the Soviet Union. Other than the prevalent hard liquor, the vodka belt is also characteristic of higher occurrence binge drinking pattern compared to the rest of Europe. [ [http://www.ias.org.uk/resources/publications/alcoholalert/alert199701/al199701_p20.html "Alcohol Alert Digest"] , Institute of Alcohol Studies, UK.]

However, in many countries historically belonging to the Vodka Belt, vodka has been supplanted by beer as the alcoholic drink of choice. Residents of Finland and Sweden consume twice as much beer as vodka (in terms of pure alcohol). [ [http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_projects/1998/monitoring/fp_monitoring_1998_frep_01_a_en.pdf ALCOHOL IN POSTWAR EUROPE: A DISCUSSION OF INDICATORS ON CONSUMPTION AND ALCOHOL-RELATED HARM] ] The Polish Beer-Lovers' Party (which won 16 seats in the Sejm in 1991) was founded on the notion of fighting alcoholism by a cultural abandonment of vodka for beer. And in 1998, beer surpassed vodka as the most popular alcoholic drink in Poland. [ [http://www.ejpau.media.pl/volume7/issue2/economics/art-06.html CONDITIONS OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES CONSUMPTION AMONG POLISH CONSUMERS] ] In Russia, annual consumption of beer has grown from 12 liters per capita in 1995 to 67 liters in 2006 (but still remains lower than consumption of vodka).Fact|date=February 2008

The term has been generating much buzz since 2006 in relating to the "vodka war" [http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/public/story_page/063-2627-030-01-05-911-20070131STO02626-2007-30-01-2007/default_en.htm Vodka war: "MEPs serve up a compromise cocktail"] , a Europarliament news article] within the European Union about the standardisation of vodka: the Vodka Belt countries insist that only spirits produced from grains and potato must be allowed to be branded as "vodka", according to the long established traditions of its production, a brand protection similar to the "protected designation of origin". [ [http://www.flexnews.com/pages/5412/European_Union/Spirits/eu_farm_chief_warns_legal_action_vodka_row.html "EU Farm Chief Warns of Legal Action in Vodka Row"] , a 25/10/2006 Reuters article] [ [http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/11/23/news/vodka.php "A spirited war: The search for the real vodka"] , "International Herald Tribune", November 23, 2006 ] The "Schnellhardt compromise", proposed by Horst Schnellhardt, suggests that vodkas from other than cereals, potatoes and molasses, should be labeled to say "Vodka produced from..."

Beer belt

The "beer belt" is the territory covered by countries in Europe where beer is historically the most popular alcoholic beverage. [cite book |editor=Leon de Stadler, Christoph Eyrich (ed.) |title=Issues in cognitive linguistics: 1993 proceedings of the International Cognitive Linguistics Conference |last=Geeraerts |first=Dirk |chapter=Beer and semantics |year=1999 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=3110152193 |pages=p. 35 |chapterurl=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=KHXyiIbucW4C&pg=PA35&dq=%22Beer+belt%22+%2B%22wine+belt%22&num=100&client=firefox-a&sig=ACfU3U0XfBhjL73tpC1dKGqkoeJD1kiuzA#PPA35,M1 |accessdate=2008-06-26] The beer belt is located to the southwest of the vodka belt and to the northeast of the wine belt. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6767193.stm BBC: Euro MPs spurn 'pure vodka' bid] ] [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6766023.stm BBC: Brussels braced for vodka battle] ]

The beer belt includes Belgium, Ireland, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Czech Republic, Slovakia, the northern and eastern cantons of Switzerland and the French regions of Alsace, Lorraine and Nord-Pas-de-Calais and the départment of Ardennes. [ [http://www.bierebel.com/en/index.php?page=paysdelabiere Belgium, country of beer!] ] (It should be noted that there is quite a bit of overlap in these French regions, as well as in southwestern Germany and parts of Austria, due to the considerable consumption and/or cultivation of wine there.) Beer is also the most popular of the three in the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Australia owing to the main preference of the nationalities that established themselves there.

Historically beer became the main alcoholic beverage in regions with a smaller Roman Empire influence and with cooler climates where cereals are the main agricultural product.

Wine belt

The "wine Belt" is the territory covered by countries in Europe where wine is historically the most popular alcoholic beverage. The wine belt is located to the south of the beer belt and the vodka belt. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6767193.stm BBC: Euro MPs spurn 'pure vodka' bid] ] [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6766023.stm BBC: Brussels braced for vodka battle] ] [ [http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9334906 The Economist: In vino veritas] ] [ [http://www.slate.com/id/2150160/ Slate: Go North, Young Grapes] ] The wine belt has been variously defined as approximately between 41° - 44°N [ [http://www.canadianvintners.com/woc/ontario.html Wines of Canada] ] , 30° - 50°N, [ [http://www.barlowschoice.com/terroir.html Introduction To NZ Wines] ] and 35° - 50/51°N. [cite book |title=A Journey of Discovery All Around Our House |last=Philp |first=Robert Kemp |year=1867 |publisher=Houlston & Wright |isbn= |pages=p. 51 |url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=E_ZOAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA51&dq=%22Wine+belt%22&num=100&client=firefox-a |accessdate=2008-06-26] Countries in the wine belt include Spain, Portugal, Italy, Hungary, Moldova, Georgia, Greece, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Romania and France. Additionally, southwestern Germany and parts of Austria could be considered to lie either within the belt or within an overlap region. [ [http://www.bierebel.com/en/index.php?page=paysdelabiere Belgium, country of beer!] ]

References