Let’s not beat about the bush. There are two reasons for drinking alcohol: pleasure and effect, with one too often leading to a bit much of the other.

The problem is finding a happy and a sensible medium. which hasn’t been easy for winelovers who over the past 20-30 years have seen the alcohol levels in some wines rise dramatically – in many cases from about 11 to 13 per cent in whites, and from 12 often to about 15 in reds.

Which, apart from anything else, could be one of the reasons for the growing popularity of wine among some of those people who drink primarily to get pie-eyed; who create mayhem on the roads, in the streets and in their homes.

Not to mention the effect this over-indulgence has on their health and on the health of others who don’t get pissed, but who drink more than the two or three glasses the experts say is the daily limit.

In fact, it is this aspect of drinking which seems to be of the greater concern, particularly in the United Kingdom, where some politicians want to lower the legal limit, so that a drink that has had its alcohol cut to 4.5 per cent may still be called “wine”.