In Levira, a picturesque town in Portugal, a remarkable incident unfolded over the weekend when two colossal vats containing roughly 2.2 million liters of wine at a local distillery unexpectedly ruptured, inundating the streets with a cascade of alcohol.
Photographs and video clips shared online vividly depict the spectacle of red wine, enough to rival the volume of an Olympic-sized swimming pool, coursing through the thoroughfares of Levira in Anadia, situated in central Portugal. In a statement posted on its Facebook page on Sunday, Destilaria Levira conveyed profound regret for the morning’s unforeseen mishap and extended sincere sympathy for the resultant damage. The distillery pledged to diligently investigate the root causes of the rupture and assumed complete responsibility for the ensuing cleanup.
Local reports revealed that the wine meandered through nearby roadways, inundating surrounding terrain and, astonishingly, infiltrating at least one underground cellar. Rapid response efforts from local firefighters were instrumental in mitigating the situation, and the recoverable wine was promptly transported to a wastewater treatment facility.
A potential environmental catastrophe was narrowly averted as the wine’s course was effectively diverted away from a nearby river, as conveyed by a member of the local council to the Jornal de NotÃcias.
Despite the spill continuing for approximately one hour, its aftermath was notably devoid of a pungent odor, a testament to the high quality of the wine involved, as elucidated by Pedro Carvalho, the distillery’s CEO, during an interview with the New York Times.
Carvalho further elucidated that the initial tank’s collapse was attributed to a “structural failure,” a cataclysmic event that triggered a powerful surge of wine, ultimately toppling the second vat.
The distillery confirmed that these vats had primarily served as storage for surplus wine, a reflection of the current challenges faced by Portugal, as well as other wine-producing nations like France, marked by an oversupply resulting from declining consumption and various other contributing factors.