I have noticed that recently the winemakers have started a war against beer brewers. The reason would be that beer is one of the competitors of wine, and wine producers would like to win back the beer drinkers, especially in traditional wine countries like Moldova. On the front line of this war are the opinion-makers who pose as experts, and all these snobs are trying to portray wine as a pretentious product that one can appreciate only if he or she is an aristocrat. This image of wine is a bit unfamiliar, even strange in countries where wine is consumed for millennia, is almost part of their staple diet and firmly part of the culture.

I do not agree that beer is a competitor for wine as tomato juice is not a competitor for it. It could be only from the perspective that both drinks contain alcohol, and if the reason makes you drink wine or beer is to induce drunkenness – you can ignore this article.

I believe, beer and wine are very different drinks and each has its time and place in our menu. Our guides should be quality and moderation. There are quality beers and quality wines as there are wines of poor quality and beers of poor quality.

Beer as food commodity is very different from wine. Although both have similar origins, they had a different evolution and came to be very different products which satisfy different gastronomic and gustative needs. To understand better, just imagine a hot summer day, you sit outside and enjoy a pint…of wine.Crazy, right?! Especiallyif the wine is a bit stronger.

The wine produced on an industrial scale has higher alcohol content when compared to beer. Moreover, the taste and flavours of beer are very different. If someone prefers the slightly bitter taste in beverages, he (or she) will not be very satisfied with glass of wine. In the same way, fruity aromas are considered faults in beer while they are more than desired in wines. The food traditionally served with beer more often doesn’t go very well with wine and vice versa. These are just some of the aspects that set them apart as competitors. Thus, if wine producers want so much to make the beer competition and conquer their market, I really think they should offer a product that would be more like beer – light and drinkable.

Elena Cristea, Chisinau, December 22, 2014