600,000 Gallons of Red Wine Floods the Streets in Anadia, Portugal After Storage Tanks Burst

Nearly 600,000 gallons (2.3 million liters) of red wine flooded the streets of São Lourenço do Bairro in Anadia, Portugal, after storage tanks at the Destilaria Levira winery burst open. Luckily, no one was hurt in this incident and there was minimal damage to property. The local fire department routed the drunken torrent away from the river, dammed it and took it off to a local wastewater facility. The winery has taken full responsibility for the accident.

(translated) True river of wine in Anadia. Calamity!

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The wine was being stored due to a surplus of wine in Portugal and other countries across Europe. The glut is being addressed through the “Crisis Distillation Program”, which helps wineries and distilleries find other uses for their overstock.

The measures adopted by the Commission, after being endorsed by Member States in committee meeting, will help the sector address the current imbalances. It was necessary to adopt temporary markets measures to avoid that the unsold wine weighs on the whole internal market and prevents producers to find sufficient storage capacity for the new harvest…..it will be possible until 15 October 2023 to distil the wine most affected by the market crisis under the support programmes for wine. The wine distilled is taken out of the market, and the alcohol obtained can only be used for non-food purposes to avoid a distortion of competition.

Thanks Mel Weinstein!