WINE, MODERATION & PLEASURE

How do you enjoy wine so that it's a consistently positive part of your life? Ultimately it's about personal responsibility and mindful enjoyment

- INES SALPICO

While I was researching this article, it quickly became apparent that discussing alcohol consumption and moderation wouldn't be a straightforward affair. Stakeholders come to the table with assumptions, agendas and moral viewpoints that often cloud the objective interpretation of studies and data – which, as I discovered, have many gaps and flaws themselves. Particularly problematic is that some of the key concepts at the core of the discussion (risk, excess, wellbeing - moderation itself) mean different things to different people.

Embracing complexity

Because individual agendas, assumptions and background were a recurring theme, it's perhaps useful to begin by stating - clearly and humbly - the premises with which I arrived at this subject myself. Wine is part of my diet, a companion to meals (not every day). I see wine as a cultural artifact, of intrinsic value before it reaches the glass - a source of pleasure but also of intellectual and aesthetic stimulation. That so many different, complex, evolving iterations of the same plant-derived product can be produced - reflecting different cultures, times and places - is a matter of enduring fascination to me.

I've consumed alcohol - moderately; very rarely anything other than wine - and this has been an important part of my family, professional and social experiences. Pregnancy and nursing forced me to interrupt my alcohol consumption, which I did easily and happily (morning sickness helped tremendously!) in light of obvious, conflicting priorities. Abstinence forced me to explore the previously unknown territory of noand low-alcohol drinks. Here be dragons? Not at all. My tasting experience expanded and flexed, and I found a dynamic community of entrepreneurs and industry professionals developing very interesting products for which there's both a need and a clear demand.

I'm sure that many