# Are wine drinkers less likely to be called alcoholics? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 29, 2014, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-wine-drinkers-less-likely-to-be-called-alcoholics/680040 "2014-01-29T15:33:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-wine-drinkers-less-likely-to-be-called-alcoholics/680040/21 "2014-01-29T18:59:00Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Most fortified wines are around 20%… [Not really](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bum_wine). In fact MD 20/20 doesn’t even come in the 20% version anymore. If you want something strong and nasty in the states, some versions of Cisco top out at 19.5%. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-wine-drinkers-less-likely-to-be-called-alcoholics/680040/22 "2014-01-29T19:06:08Z")
> [@Kevbo](#): > > Not only is wine a fairly expensive way to buy ethanol, it contains lots of compounds that tend to make for severe hangovers. Other than tannins in red wines, to which some people are allergic or metabolize poorly, could you throw out a cite for anything except ethanol being responsible for hangovers? As it was explained to me, a normal liver function is to process the small amount of methanol and other toxins created by metabolism. When ethanol is introduced, the liver switches to processing it as the greater toxin. The entire time it’s in ethanol-processing mode, the other toxins accumulate. If they accumulate long enough, it makes the person sick. But it’s still 100% ethanol’s fault, not other (nominally edible/digestible) substances in the drink. Put another way, no usual alcoholic drink would affect us if the ethanol were removed, and no combination of ingredients truly makes the ethanol effects worse. The only thing that varies is the rate of ingestion, which can depend on the dilution/strength of the drinks. Reliable cite to the contrary? ---
**Author:** ![Gus\_Gusterson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@Gus\_Gusterson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gus_Gusterson)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-wine-drinkers-less-likely-to-be-called-alcoholics/680040/23 "2014-01-29T19:07:47Z")
> [@jrsone](#): > > 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!” I liken posts like those to posts about bacon. If you judged by posts on Facebook you would think that everyone is eating bacon all day. Most people don’t eat much, if any, bacon in the average week and most don’t drink as much wine as their Facebook posts would have you believe. In real life, you don’t get a pass if you’re drunk off your ass on wine. A drunk is a drunk and nobody cares whether they’re drunk on beer, wine, or hard liquor. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-wine-drinkers-less-likely-to-be-called-alcoholics/680040/24 "2014-01-29T19:19:09Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Other than tannins in red wines, to which some people are allergic or metabolize poorly, could you throw out a cite for anything except ethanol being responsible for hangovers? Congeners. The studies are [many](http://www.nbcnews.com/id/34485233/ns/health-behavior/#.UulTDfthuSo) and pretty [conclusive](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1530-0277.2009.01116.x/full). (The second link is to the most recent study I am aware of. The first link is to a news article on said study.) ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-wine-drinkers-less-likely-to-be-called-alcoholics/680040/25 "2014-01-29T19:36:59Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Congeners. The studies are [many](http://www.nbcnews.com/id/34485233/ns/health-behavior/#.UulTDfthuSo) and pretty [conclusive](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1530-0277.2009.01116.x/full). Okay, I’d forgotten about those. So if we drank alcohol-free congener cocktails, we’d get hangovers? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-wine-drinkers-less-likely-to-be-called-alcoholics/680040/26 "2014-01-29T19:40:04Z")
We’d get some ill feelings, but _most_ of the ill effects are from the alcohol. Just not all of them. The darker the booze the worse the after-effect. Sweet drinks also amp up the bad effects. For the least impact, drink good vodka neat and chase with plenty of water and a mega-vitamin. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-wine-drinkers-less-likely-to-be-called-alcoholics/680040/27 "2014-01-29T19:48:44Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > 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. Also, one “serving” of wine has roughly the same amount of alcohol as a “serving” of beer. Generally 4 oz vs 12 oz. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-wine-drinkers-less-likely-to-be-called-alcoholics/680040/28 "2014-01-29T20:25:43Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > For the least impact, drink good vodka neat… The drinking equivalent of veganism, IMHO, adding up to “why bother?” 😃 > [@](#): > > …and chase with plenty of water and a mega-vitamin. Well, we’ve established that vitamins are completely, absolutely useless, but absolutely on the water - again, as it was explained to me long ago, the ethanol reaction uses a lot of H20, and unless you drink the kind of extra you would during exercise, you will end up dehydrated and that much sicker-feeling. Even when drinking beer or light mixed drinks, extra water will go a long ways towards forestalling hangover effects. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-wine-drinkers-less-likely-to-be-called-alcoholics/680040/29 "2014-01-29T20:30:44Z")
The mega-vitamin is essential to take after every odd-numbered drink. Not for the actual vitamins, but for the reminder that you need to keep drinking water between cocktails. Alcohol is a diuretic. If you don’t replace all the water you pee away, you get dehydrated. This is the primary cause of the hangover headache as I understand it, along with all the associated fatigue. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-wine-drinkers-less-likely-to-be-called-alcoholics/680040/30 "2014-01-29T20:33:05Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Congeners. The studies are [many](http://www.nbcnews.com/id/34485233/ns/health-behavior/#.UulTDfthuSo) and pretty [conclusive](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1530-0277.2009.01116.x/full). (The second link is to the most recent study I am aware of. The first link is to a news article on said study.) Thanks, I was going to have to plead personal experience. I have imbibed many a spirit to excess, and wine hangovers were a near second to champagne for severity. Do not miss! ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-wine-drinkers-less-likely-to-be-called-alcoholics/680040/31 "2014-01-29T21:37:56Z")
De nada. When it comes to booze and effects, I too have copious life experience. 😉 Champagne seems to be one of those that gets a lot of its impact from the bubbles. The alcohol hits quicker and you tend to drink it faster, leading to over-indulgence quicker. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-wine-drinkers-less-likely-to-be-called-alcoholics/680040/32 "2014-01-29T21:46:00Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Well, let’s see. 750ml is 25.4 ounces, and at 18% that’s 4-1/2 ounces of ethanol. > > A six-pack is 72 ounces, and at a generous 5% that’s 3.6 ounces of alky. > > A double (in the US) is 3 ounces, so at 90 proof that’s 1.35 ounces of juice. > > I’d say a bottle of wine is not insignificant for most drinkers. > > ETA: I wouldn’t argue that there is less stigma, and perhaps even less notice, of wine drinkers vs. other types. Along with the overstatement of the alcohol of wine as pointed out, I do believe you are understating that of beer, while 5% does exist (and if we ignore 3.2 beer) it is at the low end. I think if you run the numbers again a 6 pack will be able the same as a bottle of wine. Also the ‘double’ is 2 drinks, a 6 pack is 6 drinks, so again these don’t really belong together, you would need 3 doubles to be the equivalent of a six’er. Without doing the math I do believe all these number will work out to about the same, as the old saying goes a drink is a drink is a drink. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-wine-drinkers-less-likely-to-be-called-alcoholics/680040/33 "2014-01-29T22:14:18Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > I do believe you are understating that of beer, while 5% does exist (and if we ignore 3.2 beer) it is at the low end. I think 5% is a pretty fair median value. Certainly, heavier craft beers run well into 6% and more and specialty brews can go to 8 or 9 (and like 3.2, we’ll leave out the double-fermentation 12-18% brews), but if we factor in the factory brews heavy drinkers are likely to chug… I’ll put my money on 5% as a good average. > [@](#): > > Also the ‘double’ is 2 drinks, a 6 pack is 6 drinks, so again these don’t really belong together, you would need 3 doubles to be the equivalent of a six’er. A double is one drink with double the liquor. I wasn’t trying to set up a scientific sampling, but show the relative amount in common drink sizes and types. [/quote] Without doing the math I do believe all these number will work out to about the same, as the old saying goes a drink is a drink is a drink. [/quote] Wouldn’t argue; that’s what the corrected-by-committee numbers pretty much show. Every drink represents around 1.5-2 ounces of ethanol and more depends on the total and the dilution than anything else. Allee samee, a whole bottle of wine is a significant amount of alcohol - probably more than most drinkers think. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-wine-drinkers-less-likely-to-be-called-alcoholics/680040/34 "2014-01-29T22:16:26Z")
In Australia a bottle of wine contains 7 or 8 standard drinks (10gms of alcohol). The usual way of knowing you are OK to drive is, two standard drinks in the first hour then one standard drink per hour after that. Based on the premise that, for the average male, one drink will raise your blood alcohol .02 and each hour your metabolism will lower it by .02, this is pretty easy to see. However misjudging the strength of wine, thinking that one glass = one drink is so common that a picture of a standard 100ml drink is on the side of lots of cartons. With a standard drink in America having nothing to do with your hourly capacity to metabolize it what is the magic avoid DUI formula there? ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-wine-drinkers-less-likely-to-be-called-alcoholics/680040/35 "2014-01-29T22:17:27Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Winos don’t drink a lightly-oaked chardonnay on a regular basis. Speak for yourself, Bucko! ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-wine-drinkers-less-likely-to-be-called-alcoholics/680040/36 "2014-01-30T00:41:35Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > With a standard drink in America having nothing to do with your hourly capacity to metabolize it what is the magic avoid DUI formula there? There’s a standard drink size, based on alcohol content. See this [NIH page](http://rethinkingdrinking.niaaa.nih.gov/WhatCountsDrink/WhatsAStandardDrink.asp). Doesn’t mean that’s what a bartender is required to pour you, or that you pour for yourself at home. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-wine-drinkers-less-likely-to-be-called-alcoholics/680040.md?page=1)