At Portland Wine Cellars we believe in promoting

RESPONSIBLE DRINKING

For most people drinking alcohol is associated with socialising and pleasurable experiences. Drinking in moderation can have health benefits like the lowering of the risk of coronary heart disease. Responsible drinking is all about understanding the harm alcohol can have on your health, both mentally and physically, if not consumed with care. Alcohol plays a big role in British society, and a huge percentage of drinkers regularly drink a lot more than the recommended weekly guidelines. Many of them simply because they lack sufficient understanding of the harm alcohol can have.

What Are The Limits?

Men are recommended to drink no more than 21 units of alcohol a week. No more than four units should be consumed per day.
Women are recommended to drink no more than 14 units a week – that’s three units a day – and should seriously consider not drinking at all if they are pregnant or trying to conceive.

What Is A Unit?

If you ask a drinker how much alcohol they have consumed the estimate will generally be lower than the reality. This is because people do not actually realise what their alcohol intake really is, and even fewer people know how to measure a unit of alcohol.

• One alcohol unit is measured as 10ml or 8g of pure alcohol. This equals one 25ml single measure of whisky (ABV 40%), or a third of a pint of beer (ABV 5-6%) or half a standard (175ml) glass of red wine (ABV 12%). A small glass of wine, or pub measure of spirits, makes up one and a half units of alcohol.

Many wines and beers however, are often stronger than traditional strengths so it may be worth looking at a unit of alcohol in a different way. The percentage alcohol by volume is known as %abv and this equals the number of units there is in one litre of that particular alcoholic beverage. Strong beer or cider, which is 6%abv, has 3 units in one pint glass. Drinking half a glass of this means you will have consumed 1½ units.

No sales to under eighteens.

The law makes it our responsibility to make sure that we do not sell alcohol or cigarettes to anyone who is under18 years of ageor to anyone we believe is purchasing those items on behalf of another who is under 18 years of age. Where there is any doubt we will always ask for identification and will only sell to that person if the identification convinces us that the sale will be legal.