Our colleagues from the Slovenian Consulate of the Ordo Equestris Vini Europae (OEVE) wrote this article which focuses on communication towards youth. We would like to thank them! Because of its innovative character, it seems to us of interest to all the members of the F.I.C.B.

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The Consulate for Slovenia of the Ordo Equestris Vini Europae (OEVE), has considered the F.I.C.B. concept of KNOWING HOW TO DRINK, and considers that the expansion of knowledge about wine and the cultural attitude towards wine is best started with young people.

In order to make it easier to establish contact with young Slovenes, a new function of ‘’Assessor (in)’’ was introduced.

This envisages a suitably regularly trained young person between 18 and 30 years of age who would be active on social networks, the consulate’s website, at relevant meetings and with the help of other media, interactively and in the most direct way possible to communicate with their peers.

It would open up current topics related to wine, with the following three sets at the forefront :

• Appropriate attitude of young people towards vine and wine
• Drinking wine in a moderate and cultural way and in combination with food
• Interest for the preservation of viticulture and winemaking and Slovenia as a wine-growing country

After thorough consideration, the Consulate Council selected a student Meta Frangež, the 23rd Wine Queen of Slovenia (for the year 2019). The OEVE Senate also confirmed her in the same year.

https://www.tasteofadriatic.com/post/2019/01/16/crowining-of-the-wine-queen-of-slovenia

The first activities in addressing young Slovenes regarding wine were successfully launched on social networks in 2020.

The concept for 2021, in addition to the three permanent ones, envisages four additional sets, one in each quarter of the year. In addition to the written above, Assessorin Meta Frangež will also advertise to young followers at other interesting events.

So, the Ordo Equestris Vini Europae and the Consulate for Slovenia have added one more project to their regular activities. There is a belief among project holders that it is one of the most important ones. The young generations need to be aware of the fact that wine is a very special, incomparable and historically related alcoholic beverage, which is present from birth to death in all moments of private and public life events.

Assessorin Meta Frangež runs her Facebook page: “Meta Frangež – Assessorin of Ordo Equestris Vini Europae”, where she writes about current topics in the field of viticulture and winemaking, various activities and events. In a modern and currently also the only possible way, she communicates with young people and invites them to read and learn about wine, with interesting and instructive content. The educational content has already attracted almost 1000 followers (mostly young people) to follow the site, and more of them join with each post she makes.

The posts are related to current events in the cellars, vineyards or the wine world in general,

e.g. the last post is related to pruning and reads as follows :

My dear followers,

We are in the time of pruning the vine, which marks the beginning of a new wine-growing season. Winter means ‘time of rest’ only for the vine and not for the winegrower. Every winemaker starts a new story with pruning and is already making his wine with different methods of pruning.

The vine is naturally a climber, that has developed freely and unrestrictedly throughout history. When man realized its usefulness, he began to cultivate it, so it would be easier to pick the grapes. With cutting, he forced it not to grow too wild. Thus, even today, man harmonizes his benefit with the requirements of the vine by pruning.

Pruning regulates the yield and load of the vine, which has a decisive influence on the quality of the grapes and wine we want to produce. On an overloaded vine, the grapes will not ripe well, and the vine will be depleted over the years. On vines where there is too little load, strong growth will be exposed, which will slow down the development and ripening of grapes.

So the correct and appropriate cutting is extremely important for the quality of the grapes themselves and later the wine. But this is just the beginning. To get to the high quality wine, it is necessary to work diligently and consistently in the vineyard throughout the whole season.

Let’s be a role model in the attitude towards wine, as a lot of work, effort and knowledge is invested in it. Wine is not just a drink, it is something more than that. May it open our emotions and secrets, may it loosen our language, but in a respectful and cultural tone.

YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE CULTURAL ATTITUDE TOWARDS WINE !

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You are also invited to follow the Facebook page :

https://www.facebook.com/frangezmeta