Good food and Wine Show, Sydney, Australia

One is not always equal to one

Consider this for just a moment ..... a standard drink for a glass of wine is 100 ml, however it’s common industry practice in Queensland to pour 150 ml. I wonder how many people realise that after their first glass of wine they’ve consumed 1.5 standard drinks? For females that could mean already being over the blood alcohol limit. It is clear that hospitality professionals play a vital role in ensuring that their customers consume alcohol in moderation, however Drink Wise Australia has come to the party and helping the events and wine industries to educate and encourage safer drinking.

Who is DrinkWise Australia?

Drink Wise Australia is an independent not-for-profit organisation established by the alcohol industry to encourage a healthier and safer drinking culture. They promote responsible drinking through their “stay tasteful while tasting” campaign and they produce and distribute alcohol related content and health messaging throughout the industry and their networks. They also create practical resources that promote responsible drinking such as the Drink Wise tasting tracker.

What is the DrinkWise tasting tracker?

The Drink Wise tasting tracker is a handy pocket-sized scratch card, where the customer can track how much wine they’ve consumed. The card has been implemented at cellar doors around Australia to help consumers manage multiple tastings of wine. It’s also ideal for events where wine tastings occur such as the Sydney Good Food and Wine show. At this event the Drink Wise card is distributed when the wine glass is collected after registration. The tasting tracker is an excellent tool for event managers to manage their operations and meet their safety obligations while subtly promoting responsible alcohol consumption in their event.

Stay tasteful while tasting!

On average, it takes the body approximately 1 hour to process 10 grams of alcohol. For some people this can be a challenging time frame considering they may be drinking more than their body can process to stay sober and under the blood alcohol limit. So, the motto "Stay Tasteful While Tasting" is a beautifully stated reminder for the consumer to Be Wise and Drink Wise. It is also true for the Good Food and Wine Show where event managers have the responsibility for hundreds of people drinking, its such a helpful tool for them to encourage responsible consumption.

The DrinkWise tasting tracker is a small card approximately 10cm  x 10cm, it folds in half and can easily fit in a purse or pocket. It was created specifically for wine and it clearly explains a standard drink and how many tastes it takes to get there

The tasting tracker

How the tracker works

The tracker displays a wine glass divided into sections numbered 1 to 6, each section represents a 15ml pour. For those who love math that’s a total of 90ml; slightly less than the 100ml standard pour for wine. After each tasting the customer scratches off a number. Once all numbers are scratched on a glass; one standard drink has been consumed. More importantly, as the card is scratched a message appears that reminds the taster it’s time for a glass of water.

Stephen's Take

Tips for Teachers

Responsible service of alcohol will remain a clear government initiative and a constant responsibility for hospitality workers. The Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation offers online RSA refresher courses to help educators maintain currency in responsible service of alcohol. There are a number of topics to cover and at the end of each there is a small quiz to test your knowledge. There is no certificate issued for completing the course however teachers can download a copy of the quiz results as evidence of completing the quiz.

Unit of Competency Mapping

Fords Gin, Good Food and Wine Show, Sydney, Australia

Please note; the purpose of this article is to introduce current hospitality trends. The content broadly applies to the units of competency listed. It is not intended that all content in this article maps directly to all performance evidence and knowledge evidence in the unit of competency.

Article and all photos original by Stephen Duncan