‘Healthy’ drinking

sir – Bryony Gordon and Hannah Betts boast in your pages of having been sober for two and five years respectively. I have been sober for 57 years, yet drink wine nearly every day. It enhances meals, and makes one more relaxed and sociable. There are many millions of other responsible drinkers in the UK. We greatly enjoy our wines, beers and liqueurs, but never to excess. We know when to stop.

I belong to eight wine-tasting groups and have never seen anyone drunk, disorderly or aggressive at these gatherings. We prize quality above quantity and concentrate on what we are tasting, not knocking the drink back heedlessly to get legless. Publicity for a minority of irresponsible drinkers should not deter others from enjoying products that, in moderation, give happiness, sociability and health. Dr Bernard Lamb

President of the National Guild of Wine and Beer Judges

London SW14