“FROM here on it falls upon you to describe Anatolia’s unrivalled grapes”. The remark came from Turkey’s wine producers, protesting against a bill that slaps new restrictions on the sale and consumption of alcohol. The bill, spearheaded by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister, was pushed through on May 24th by his Justice and Development (AK) party. It bans shops from selling drink between 10pm and 6am or displaying the stuff in windows. Restaurants near schools or mosques must be dry. Spirits producers can no longer advertise or sponsor events. The news sent shares of Anadolu Efes, Turkey’s biggest brewer, down by 7 %.

Mr Erdogan insists the aim is to stop young Turks from “wandering about in a state of inebriation” and has nothing to do with imposing an Islamist lifestyle. “If you are going to drink, then get your drink and drink it at home,” he said. Yet a recent OECD study suggests that, with annual consumption of just 1.5 litres of alcohol per head in 2010, Turks ranked as Europe’s soberest people.

Hoteliers fret that the curbs will scare off tourists. Secularists see another step to sharia rule. After a decade under AK Turkey feels a lot more conservative. Islamic clerical training for middle-school pupils has come back, Koran courses have grown and finding a drink in rural Anatolia is hard. Turkish Airlines no longer serves alcohol on most domestic flights. In government offices hemlines have dropped. “In the old days if you wanted a promotion you wore a short skirt, now it’s the other way round,” explains a female diplomat. Turkey’s Alevis, who neither fast nor pray in mosques, feel squeezed.

Yet pious Anatolian entrepreneurs who have flourished under AK are moving the other way. “They spend more time with their mistresses than in the mosque,” says a devout boss in Istanbul. Newly affluent covered women have traded in their polyester for Versace and zip around in Porsche jeeps, stirring rumblings of disapproval within Mr Erdogan’s Islamist base.

Some suggest the law may be aimed at local and presidential elections due in 2014. Mr Erdogan wants to be president. The row also deflects attention from his unpopular policy in Syria. Turkey no longer backs the Salafist Al-Nusra Front, which is on America’s list of terrorist outfits. Ahmet Davutoglu, the foreign minister, now sees it “the same way we view al-Qaeda.” That is cause for celebration—with or without a drink.