Just an observence, and I could be way off base here.
I am friends with people on Facebook and also I notice on various websites written in a humour fashion or otherwise, wine is popular.
“There is no such thing as too much wine!”
Some people brag about going through a bottle (or box) a night and this is just kind of seen as “Wine, let’s pour it in our cereal!” Most people don’t seem to bat an eye.
Now if someone posted pictures of themselves taking shots Jack Daniels each night and posting it or downing a 12 pack and posting “Natural Light, nectar of the God’s”, chances are someone might intervene or say there is a problem, but there is just a playfulness associated with wine.
Like I said, I could be wrong. I’m not much of a drinker. I don’t care for wine much at all and I have grown up with alcoholism in my family. So i’m probably looking at this with a biased perspective.
I remember being very surprised when I learned that wine is stronger than beer, because the social expectation seems to be that alcoholics get drunk on beer, not wine.
Maybe it’s just a matter of price: If you can afford good wine, then you’re at least a functional alcoholic.
One term for a down-and-out alcoholic is a wino so there is that. A bottle of wine only contains about 4 1/2 glasses. Going through even a bottle a night isn’t all that much relatively speaking. It may not be the best thing in the world for you but that is some pretty low-grade alcoholism if it is at all. I have known some alcoholics whose drink of choice is wine and they drank multiple bottles per day.
I think it’s the other way around - alcoholics are less likely to drink wine compared to other alcohol. If you’re going for the cheapest way to get drunk, bad liquor will win out. But as noted, there are still plenty of alcoholics who prefer wine.
I think people do tend to joke about wine more, but it’s just a joke for most of the people I see doing this. And if I saw someone bragging about multiple bottles or a box every night, I wouldn’t think it was harmless fun.
I don’t think most alcoholics are looking for the cheapest way to get drunk. Gutter drunks obviosuly are and they buy cheap wine, cheap beer etc, whatever give them the most bang for their buck. Typically an alcoholic will be funtioning and still working and consider $10.00 or so a night not a big deal.
An alcoholic is an alcoholic whether they get drunk off beer, wine, or liquor. When I lived in the city it was just as common to see a drunk bum with a 40, a bottle of cheap wine, or rotgut liquor.
The OP’s friends on facebook may or may not be alcoholics, but since it’s playful I think you could see the same activity with beer or liquor.
I think wine has more of a perception of being consumed by people who are not serious or hard drinkers – as a gourmet collector’s item; with fine food; as a light social drink. But there are certainly plenty of alcoholics whose preferred drink is wine – Caroline Knapp, author of Drinking: A Love Story, and recently rehabbed newscaster Elizabeth Vargas come to mind.
I know many people who drink wine that I am pretty sure are not alcoholics. They have one glass with dinner, and may not even finish that one.
I know several recovering alcoholics who drank only wine, in large part because it allowed them to tell themselves they were not an alcoholic because they only drank wine.
Not only is wine a fairly expensive way to buy ethanol, it contains lots of compounds that tend to make for severe hangovers. Eventually the wine abuser may work out that they are an alcoholic and either move on to something like vodka or seek help.