If we answer the question by looking at production statistics, it would not be wrong to say ‘yes’ without hesitation. This year, we encountered developments that worried everyone who follows the developments in the wine industry. Among these, the most striking was that both wine production and sales remained at the lowest level in the last 60 years.

The winemaking industry, which maintained the level it reached in the 1960s with ups and downs until 2020, has begun to be under the influence of a series of changes it has never encountered before in the current period. What are these changes?

Let's put the dominant economic order in the world at the beginning. The approach called economy of scale, which we should understand as always producing more than the previous one, pushes manufacturers to reduce unit costs in order to compete better. This approach, which is based on reducing the unit price, brings about investment in production tools, on the one hand, and larger marketing and sales budgets to sell the increased production, on the other hand. Examples of truly benefiting from this general rule and growing while maintaining profitability are too few to point out.

Let's put the change in consumers' tendencies in second place. Here, it would be useful to first look at the effect of alternative drinks such as beer and cocktails on wine consumption.

Thirdly, it is necessary to take into account the public guidance towards preferring non-alcoholic or low-alcoholic beverages for health reasons, which has become more common especially in the last year. The fact that the World Health Organization has taken steps on this issue brings to mind whether wine will experience the same change that cigarettes have experienced.

Lastly, there are the changes brought about by climate change on wine. If we look at the clues ahead, both the change in wine quality and the effects of the regions on viticulture show that difficult days are approaching for producers.

It is inevitable that we should add the general view of the government towards alcohol in our country as a local heading to these general headings for the world wine industry. Of course, this trend may decrease or increase with the changes in power, but it is clear that Turkish wine production is negatively affected by these policies.

All these headlines show that we have entered at least a period of stagnation in the quantity-based growth of wine. We are all aware that wine is a powerful field that has created its own uniqueness and is deeply embedded in cultural life. But no matter how strong, all of these changes will have small or large effects on the wine. As a matter of fact, news has begun to emerge that the vineyards, although few in number for now, have become worthless in terms of the income they generate and are being dismantled to make room for alternative agricultural products.

The phenomenon that the ancients called extreme and hypocritical means that we cannot keep the balance in making the right decisions. As in every field, the balance we create in wine consumption adds richness to our lives. In the end, it is our duty to maintain balance. Since Dionysus, the measure that says the first glass is for health and the second glass is for pleasure actually indicates balance. Adopting an approach that extends to prohibition, instead of carefully focusing on maintaining balance, will seem to be experienced again as a cycle that people have never been able to leave behind.