There's a cultural dimension. In general south europe culture it is normal to drink wine to food, and enjoy it, but also embarrassing to get publically drunk.

There's a cultural dimension. In general south europe culture it is normal to drink wine to food, and enjoy it, but also embarrassing to get publically drunk. Whereas in northern europe, though, it's all beer or spirits and the aim is to get as drunk as possible as quickly as possible. These generalisations are based on my own observations. There's doubtless a lot of variation.