Having lived in Scotland for 11 years, I am very familiar with Buckfast Tonic Wine (or Buckie as we affectionately call it) - its easily identifiable retro yellow label; its sweet, sparkly taste; and its reputation as the cause of ALL Scottish anti-social behaviour.
The argument in favour of Buckfast is a difficult one to win. Politicians like to be able to identify an easy solution to problems such as anti-social behaviour, and have so turned on Buckfast Tonic Wine, branding it as the inciter of Scotland's youth crime. They have cited its high alcohol content coupled with excessive levels of caffeine as the reason for singling out Buckfast over other alcoholic drinks. And, damningly, they present evidence to show the association between Buckfast and crime.
And yet this scourge of Scotland has a holy beginning. The Benedictine monks at the Buckfast Abbey in Devon have produced this fortified wine, similar to sherry, madeira or port, based on an ancient French recipe for over 100 years.
I recently met Stewart Wilson, who has now taken over from his father, Jim Wilson, as spokesperson for J Chandler & Co, the distributors of Buckfast. While obviously recognising that his support of Buckfast was likely to be somewhat biased, he made very clear, coherent and persuasive arguments in favour of the vilified wine.
For example, while Buckfast has been mentioned by name in 5,638 crime reports between 2006 and 2009, he points out that police specifically target drinkers of Buckfast, automatically inflating the figures. Furthermore, when making their reports, police have the brand-name Buckfast as its own little tick-box, while using generic tick-boxes for other types of alcohol. So, for drinkers of Glen's vodka (one of the cheapest vodka's on the market), they tick 'vodka', thus not subjecting Glen's to the same scrutiny as Buckfast.
As far as its alcohol and caffeine content go, Buckfast in the UK contains 15% alcohol - pretty standard for a bottle of wine. A quick scout around the house shows that my port contains 20% and the bottle of Voigner in the fridge contains 13.5%. By comparison, vodka in Europe must contain a minimum of 37.5% alcohol to be classed as vodka. As for caffeine, Buckfast in the UK contains 37.5mg per 100ml, which is deemed to be equivalent to the caffeine content of black tea.
Of course, if you drink 750ml of black tea (about 3 cups) of tea in one go, then I don't imagine you're going to feel that great, but it does put the argument into perspective. If I drink a bottle of wine and 3 cups of tea, I am not going to then go off and commit crime - there are obviously more complex issues at play here.
And that is assuming I drink the whole lot myself. What usually happens with young people drinking Buckfast is that they club together to buy a bottle between 3 or 4 of them, meaning they drink 1/3 a bottle of wine (2 small glasses) and a cup of tea in an evening. No more (and probably substantially less) than I would drink myself at a dinner party with friends.
All of this controversy will, I'm sure, be completely alien to readers living in England or the US, where Buckfast does not have the infamy that it does in Scotland. In fact, Buckfast is developing a high-end reputation across the UK. At the end of the day, it is a fortified wine, comparable with sherry and port, that is sweet with a light finish.
Because of the sweetness, it is also ideal for some imaginative cookery. At the Bristol Foodies Festival, where I met Stewart Wilson, we tried a brownie where the sugar had been replaced with Buckfast that was really delicious. Well, it should have been! It was created by Michelin-starred chef Martin Blunos. In fact, the celebrity chef has created a number of other dishes using Buckfast, including Mulled Pears and Boeuf Bourguinon. And he is not alone in using the interesting ingredient in chefy creations. I have certainly seen Buckfast ice cream and sorbets on menus and can imagine slow-cooking pork in Buckfast would produce as delicious a result as it does when cooked in cola.
I had intended to give you some Buckfast recipes in this post, but I find that I have gone on quite a bit about the background. I shall, instead, save them for a second post about this misunderstood beverage.
As a final point, I would just say that I am by no means dismissing the obviously problematic relationship that Scotland and the rest of the UK has with alcohol. I simply mean to suggest that the issue has deeper roots than the young person's choice of drink.
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