Alcohol belts of Europe


The alcohol belts of Europe divide Europe by their traditional alcoholic beverages: beer, wine, or spirits. They do not necessarily correspond with current drinking habits, as beer has become the most popular alcoholic drink world-wide. The definitions of these belts are not completely objective.

Vodka belt

However, the general definition tends to include the following states as significant producers and consumers of vodka:
The EU countries of the vodka belt produce over 70% of the EU's vodka.
The southern boundary of the "vodka belt" roughly corresponds to the −2 °C January isotherm in lowlands. With the exception of Poland, Ukraine, and some regions of southern Russia, cultivation of grapes is impossible or very difficult in the vodka belt.
Sometimes the term "vodka belt" is used while referring exclusively to the Slavic countries of Central and Eastern Europe, as they are the historical homeland of vodka. Before the 19th century, vodka was considered very much a "people's drink" that was common among the peasantry who made up the majority of the population in most countries of the time, while the political and aristocratic minority preferred imported wines or other alcoholic beverages that were considered less plebeian. There are exceptions, such as Żubrówka, a type of Polish vodka that dates back to the 16th century, which became popular among the szlachta as well as the peasantry as early as the 18th century.
In his book about the Soviet Union, Alex de Jonge elaborates on his concept of "geoalcoholics". In particular, he explains Russian peculiarities by their belonging to the vodka belt and the absence of the beer belt in the Soviet Union. Other than the prevalent hard liquor the vodka belt is also characterised by a higher occurrence of binge drinking compared to the rest of Europe. Likewise, in his Russia and the Russians, historian Geoffrey Hoskins notes the distinct effect vodka culture has had on the countries of the former Russian Empire, creating drinking as a social problem on a different level from other European countries.
In many countries historically belonging to the vodka belt, vodka has been supplanted by beer as the alcoholic drink of choice since the early 21st century. Residents of Finland and Sweden consume twice as much beer as vodka. The Polish Beer-Lovers' Party was founded on the notion of fighting alcoholism by a cultural abandonment of vodka for beer. And indeed in 1998, beer surpassed vodka as the most popular alcoholic drink in Poland.
The term has received much attention since 2006 in the context of the "vodka war" within the European Union about the standardisation of vodka: the vodka belt countries insist that only spirits produced from grains and potato must be allowed to be branded as "vodka", according to the long established traditions of its production, a brand protection similar to the "protected designation of origin". The "Schnellhardt compromise", proposed by Horst Schnellhardt, suggests that vodkas from other than cereals, potatoes and molasses, should be labeled to say "Vodka produced from".

Beer belt

The "beer belt" is the territory covered by countries in Europe where beer is historically the most popular alcoholic beverage. The beer belt is located to the southwest of the vodka belt and to the northeast of the wine belt.
The geography of the beer belt is closely tied to the historical growing range of its two main ingredients: barley, and more especially hops. Barley was first domesticated during the Neolithic in the ancient Near East. It has been brewed into beer-like beverages for thousands of years, and grown in most of Europe since ancient times. Hops are more narrowly distributed, preferring humid temperate climates, similar to potatoes. Originally, European "ale" was produced without hops, which were introduced to Europe from the east. The first evidence of hops in Europe dates from, in the Hallertau region of present-day Germany, although the first mention of the use of hops in brewing in that country was not until 1079.
The westward spread of hops was slow, not reaching England until 1524. Ireland was still importing hops in the eighteenth century; more than 500 tons of English hops were imported through Dublin alone in 1752. In 1516, the Reinheitsgebot or "Bavarian Beer Purity Law" established that barley, hops, and water were the only allowable ingredients in beer. This became the template for beers across Europe. While non-barley beers, and non-hopped-beers are still produced, across most of Europe "beer" is synonymous with barley and hops. Since the northern range of hops does not include most of Scandinavia or Russia, these areas, for the most part, are outside of the beer belt and lie in the vodka/whisky belt.
the beer belt includes Belgium, Ireland, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Norway, Germany, some parts of Austria, Luxembourg, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Slovenia, Central Federal District of Russia, the northern and eastern cantons of Switzerland and the French regions of Alsace, Lorraine, Nord-Pas-de-Calais and the départment of Ardennes. There is quite a bit of overlap in these French regions, as well as in southwestern Germany and parts of Austria, due to the considerable consumption and cultivation of wine there, and Poland is also a part of the vodka belt.
In 2016, UNESCO inscribed Belgian beer culture on their list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity.

Wine belt

The "wine belt" is the territory covered by countries in Europe where wine is historically the most popular alcoholic beverage. The wine belt is located to the south of the beer belt and the vodka belt. The wine belt has been variously defined as approximately between 41° - 44°N, 30° - 50°N, and 35° - 50/51°N.
Countries in the wine belt include Spain, Portugal, Italy, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Bulgaria, Turkey, most of Austria, San Marino, Switzerland, Romania, France, and Southern Federal District of Russia. Hungary and Slovenia are historically considered as part of the wine belt, but they overlap largely and are in line more with the Beer Belt instead. Additionally, Southwest England, parts of the Low Countries, southwestern Germany and parts of Austria could be considered to lie either within the belt or within an overlap region.
The UNESCO has declared some wine region in its World Heritage Sites: