São Lourenço de Bairro, Portugal, witnessed a bizarre event when two distillery tanks burst, flooding the streets with a river of red wine. Image: via @PopBase
The town of São Lourenço de Bairro, Portugal, witnessed a bizarre event this past Monday when two distillery tanks burst, flooding the streets with a river of red wine.
An estimated 2.2 million litres of wine (approx. 600,000 gallons)一enough to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool一spilled into the village streets.
Footage of the spectacle went viral online, with many observers eagerly offering to grab a class and “clean up” the deluge of alcohol.
The tanks belong to Livera Distillery, who released a statement shortly after the incident.
“We assume full responsibility for the costs associated with cleaning and repairing the damage, having teams do so immediately,” said Livera Distillery.
“We are committed to resolving this situation as quickly as possible.”
The company expressed concerns about the economic loss they would face after losing such a large volume of product.
The town of São Lourenço de Bairro is located in Anadia municipality, around 220 kilometres north of Lisbon, and has a population of about 2000 people.
Thankfully, no injuries or material damages were reported following the incident, however, the spill reached nearby roads, land, and one local reported wine flooding their basement.
However, it did trigger a local environmental alert, prompting the Anadia Fire Department to mobilise and divert the wine away from the nearby Certima River, to avoid contamination to the water.
Levira Distillery said that soil contaminated by the wine spill would be treated at their expense.
Investigations are ongoing into the cause of the spill, however, Levira cited the Portuguese government’s response to an ongoing wine surplus as the reason for its excess storage.
A surplus of wine exists globally, as demand for the beverage decreases year-by-year.
According to a bulletin published last month by Wine Australia, global wine production is estimated to be below average in 2023 for the fifth year in a row, but is still expected to exceed demand by around 10 per cent, as wine consumption continues to decline.
