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Italian primary school children as young as six may soon receive weekly lessons about the history and culture of wine and be taught how to drink it responsibly.

The lessons are part of a new parliamentary bill and will teach children to use and not abuse wine as well as the way in which it is central to Italian culture. 

The bill follows an initiative already in place in Brescia, Northern Italy, where school children are being taught about the role of wine in the country.

 

 

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Children wIll not be tasting the wine but instead learning about its history and how it plays a central role in Italian culture

This particularly initiative was launched by growers and tasters and now local politicians in Puglia hope to also be educating children by autumn, reported The Times.

Dario Stefano, the senator behind the unusual parliamentary bill, explained the importance of children in Italy leaning about wine and how it is made.

He said: 'Italy is now the biggest wine producer in the world, it is our history, and we should be happy and proud to teach our children about it.'

He added that as every region in the country makes wine it is a topic that unites the people of Italy.

Stefano also explained how the lessons would work and ensured that children would not be tasting the wine but instead learning about its history.

 

 

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The lessons are part of a new parliamentary bill and will teach Italian school children to use and not abuse wine (file photo)

Vito Intini, a wine-taster who is behind the initiative in Brescia, agreed with this notion.

He said: 'There will be no tastings, since we believe the body can't metabolise alcohol before 17 years of age,' reported the paper.

Intini also spoke about the way in which he hopes to link wine and culture in the minds of the school children and not promote wine sales.

He added that the increasing number of Muslim school children in Brescia had not imposed the lesson and had instead been fascinated with the history of wine.

 

 

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The bill follows an initiative already in place in Brescia, pictured, where school children are being taught about the role of wine in the country

The bill, which will see children aged between six and 13 being educated, has been supported by Attilio Scienza, a professor of wine culture at the University of Milan.

He voiced his fears regarding an increasing amount of Italian youths drinking excessively and claims that families have lost the habit of drinking together socially.

Scienza, who explained 'you don't drink to get drunk', hopes the scheme will introduce wine back into homes around the country. 

He added that similar initiatives in France had been successful in cutting down on young people abusing alcohol. 

 

 

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Attilio Scienza, a professor of wine culture at the University of Milan, claims that families in Italy have lost the habit of drinking together socially (file photo)