Rediscovering Wine

This year was the first year I've decided to make a few resolutions. They're pretty vague and don't include quitting smoking. The first, and probably most life changing, is to give up drinking beer and switching to wine or clear liquors. I figure it's a good way to cut carbs and drop a little bit of stubborn nesting weight without completely giving up drinking (cuz that's just crazy talk!). So far, I've done pretty well. The hardest part is going out to bars. For me, it's just easier and safer to order a beer. I know my limit with beer. I know I can drink 6 Miller Lites or 3 full flavor beers before I start making an ass out of myself. With wine or liquor (like premium vodka), my tolerance is a little shaky. Wine tends to make me sleepy and I start slurring my words, losing motor function, and sometimes black out, with liquor. When I was in college, I could handle liquor better. Nothing says "I'm an underage college student" better than finishing off a bottle of Philip's Vodka with your dormmate on a Friday night. My experiences in college are also why I don't really like drinking liquor anymore. College has ruined me for rum, most tequilas, whiskey, scotch, gin (unless it's a hot summer day), and any kind of schnapps (also, I wouldn't drink orange juice for about 4 years).

But, I think I know what my problem is with my tolerance to wine and liquor cocktails. I drink them like I would drink a beer. You know, when you have a perfectly chilled long neck and you take that first, perfect swig? Then you have to drink it before it gets all warm and backwashy? Yeah, that's how I tend to enjoy martinis, wine, or anything that involves mixers. Which is a bad idea, because, shit, everyone knows a good martini will only really kick in about 30 minutes after you've fully consumed it, and when you're at a bar in the Twin Cities, you've already had said martini refilled, and most likely it's in a 10 to 12 ounce glass.

Anyway, I've been buying a few bottles of wine and having one glass each night to build up my tolerance so I don't become a drooling, bawling asshole after 2 glasses, or make the mistake of switching to beer later on in the night and risking suicide the next morning. Furthermore, I've literally been timing each sip so that I can force myself to slow down and enjoy my drink. It helps when you're enjoying a delightful little Bordeaux that's $11 a bottle (I almost exclusively drink French wines because I'm a horrible snob and have NEVER had a wine headache from even the cheapest of French imports). Bordeaux, in my limited experience and wine-intelligence) seems to get a little bit heavier and butteryer after you let it sit an breathe (how very Sideways of me). I love me some buttery, chocolate-y wines.

Anyway, here's to you, internet...pour me another!

EDIT: Wine drinking is way better when you're listening to Annie Lennox's "Diva" and watching Striptease on Encore.