It is enough to make a connoisseur weep – the sight of millions of litres of red wine flooding down the streets of a Portuguese village.
The freak occurrence took place when two huge wine tanks burst at a distillery in Sao Lourenco do Bairro in central Portugal.
Bemused locals watched as an estimated 2.2 million litres – equivalent to the water held in an Olympic-sized swimming pool – cascaded through the village on Sunday, swirling around street signs and parked cars.
Video footage showed the torrent of red wine flowing down a slope and around a bend in the road.
The wine flooded the basement of one house, though much of it was diverted into fields, Portuguese media reported.
There were fears that it could contaminate a nearby river, but local authorities said they had managed to prevent that from happening.
The distilling company, Levira, apologised for the damage and said it took full responsibility for the unusual accident.
“The causes of the incident are being investigated by the competent authorities. We are fully committed to covering the costs associated with cleaning up and repairing the damage, with teams ready to act immediately. We are committed to resolving this situation as quickly as possible,” the company said.
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**From The Telegraph’s Nick Squires:**
It is enough to make a connoisseur weep – the sight of millions of litres of red wine flooding down the streets of a Portuguese village.
The freak occurrence took place when two huge wine tanks burst at a distillery in Sao Lourenco do Bairro in central Portugal.
Bemused locals watched as an estimated 2.2 million litres – equivalent to the water held in an Olympic-sized swimming pool – cascaded through the village on Sunday, swirling around street signs and parked cars.
Video footage showed the torrent of red wine flowing down a slope and around a bend in the road.
The wine flooded the basement of one house, though much of it was diverted into fields, Portuguese media reported.
There were fears that it could contaminate a nearby river, but local authorities said they had managed to prevent that from happening.
The distilling company, Levira, apologised for the damage and said it took full responsibility for the unusual accident.
“The causes of the incident are being investigated by the competent authorities. We are fully committed to covering the costs associated with cleaning up and repairing the damage, with teams ready to act immediately. We are committed to resolving this situation as quickly as possible,” the company said.
**Find out more ⤵️**
[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/09/11/red-wine-flood-streets-portugal-village-sao-lourenco-levira/](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/09/11/red-wine-flood-streets-portugal-village-sao-lourenco-levira/)
Fortunately there were no lives lost, unlike in the [London beer flood of 1814](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Beer_Flood) which killed eight people.
jesus is back 🙏
Red red wine!
That’s how we fucking party out here in Portugal 💪🏻 flood the streets with wine
That’s gonna leave a stain