Wine Without Alcohol

I used to love wine. This was actually one of my biggest concerns about quitting alcohol. I have some friends with, let’s say… generous wine budgets, where auction-procured bottles are the norm, many constituting what can only be described as cultural masterpieces. Don’t I miss that? Actually, no. And not for the reason you think.

Because I did still get to try them all. This was the benefit, or so I thought, of quitting alcohol before you have to. I can try any wine, cocktail, or rare spirit I want, as it doesn’t in any way draw me back into drinking.

My friends knew that I was not drinking but that I did love experiencing rare wines, so they always poured me a tiny glass of everything so that I got to experience it and discuss it with them. I’ve even done whiskey tastings and tequila tastings. This is, of course, not something you should do if you have quit alcohol because of an addiction problem, but it’s a pretty damn good reason to quit before developing one.

Eventually, my enthusiasm faded somewhat. It’s just not as interesting anymore. I still engage sometimes, and when I do, I taste and spit, top-tier sommelier style. I can still find it intellectually interesting, but I am not drawn to it anymore.