The ethical drinker: 'Wines and people that made me stop and think'

Corbières vineyards in southern France.As I sit down to write the first column of 2026, I’ve realised that I never really addressed its title: ‘The ethical drinker’. What does ‘ethical drinking’ actually mean? Does it relate more to the act of drinking alcohol, or to the product itself?
There isn’t really a straight answer to this, as it’s probably a bit of both: an awareness of the way we consume, a curiosity about the wines we choose, their prov