The open letter was released just days before the United Nations’ 80th Anniversary General Assembly which started in New York this week. It warns that reducing wine to a mere health risks threatens millennia of cultural heritage, social bonds, and even scientific inquiry.
The appeal, signed unanimously by AIV members including iconic producers like Italy’s Angelo Gaja, Paul Draper of California’s Ridge Vineyards, and Jean-Pierre Perrin of France’s Château de Beaucastel, arrives amid mounting global pressure on alcohol policies.
This week UN heads of state and government will convene for the fourth High-Level Meeting on the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), including a push to promote mental health and well-being. Resolutions expected to pass could frame all alcohol – including wine – as a uniform public health hazard, sidelining its nuanced role in societies worldwide.
‘Wine is at the heart of this question,’ the letter begins, addressed to ‘Ladies & Gentlemen, Heads of State and Government.’
It lambasts the oversimplification of wine as ‘a molecule of alcohol’ or ‘a drug,’ arguing that such rhetoric ignores its embodiment of ‘eight millennia of human history: a catalyst for conviviality, joy and sharing; a connection to the land and its landscapes; a universal language linking people – from Georgia to Ancient Greece, from Oregon to Tuscany, from France to New Zealand’.
The signatories, a veritable who’s who of the wine world, emphasise wine’s role in fostering ‘the culture of taste and restraint’.
Figures like Alvaro Palacios of Spain’s eponymous estate, Etienne de Montille of Burgundy’s Domaine de Montille, and Jeannie Cho Lee MW, Asia’s first Master of Wine, underscore how moderate enjoyment strengthens social ties, family bonds, and mental well-being.
‘The link between happiness and health is undeniable,’ they asserted, positioning wine not as excess but as ‘appreciating rather than abusing, tasting rather than drinking’.
In an exclusive statement to Decanter, Véronique Sanders, Chancellor of the AIV and proprietor of Château Haut-Bailly in Bordeaux, elaborated on the appeal’s core message: ‘Most wine lovers are enlightened and responsible drinkers, driven by a shared passion for this natural product, made from the sap and fruit of the vine. Why should we make this passion antisocial?
‘We are defending a culture of taste, moderation, sharing and connection, which unites continents, peoples and generations,’ Sanders added.
Scientifically, the appeal cites a recent National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) report, which found that ‘compared to no alcohol consumption, moderate consumption is associated with lower all-cause mortality’. While acknowledging the debate’s ongoing nature, the AIV regrets the lack of large-scale randomised trials to replace ‘insufficient observational data’, calling for open inquiry over premature closure.
The group, founded in 1971 as an independent forum for viticulture and winemaking reflection, stops short of denying alcohol’s risks. ‘We are fully aware of the dangers of excess’, it states, advocating education as the antidote to prohibition.
‘Through education, we believe we can both protect individual freedom to enjoy wine without abuse and promote responsibility and control.’
Signatories like Greek producer Evangelos Gerovassiliou and Lebanese winemaker Gaston Hochar highlight wine’s transmission of ‘knowledge, know-how, and teaching moderation,’ turning consumers into ‘ambassadors of balance’.
Other luminaries backing the call include Dominique Lafon of Domaine des Comtes Lafon, Peter Sisseck of Spain’s Dominio de Pingus, and Jasper Morris MW.
From Chile’s Felipe de Solminihac of Viña Terra Noble to Switzerland’s Raymond Paccot of Domaine La Colombe, the diverse roster spans continents, underscoring wine’s global tapestry.
‘To denormalise wine would deny its benefits and close scientific debate prematurely,’ the letter warns, framing the stakes as existential: ‘Preserving wine means defending a civilisation, a way of life, a living universal heritage.’
As UN delegates deliberate, this clarion call from wine’s guardians arrives not as defiance, but as a plea for nuance – combating excesses while honouring traditions that have sustained humanity for generations.
The AIV, which discusses topics from climate change to regenerative viticulture, remains independent, free from governmental or commercial sway.
The full press release can be accessed here.
