When I lived in Northern California, I spent many weekends doing the most Northern California thing possible (aside from practicing nude goat yoga and crafting small-batch, organic, free-range chia kombucha): visiting wineries. Some of my most favorite memories involve downing bottles of delicious, jammy Napa reds. Some of my least favorite memories were the epic hangovers that followed, a factor that led me to switch from the grape to the ganja.
Wine is still prefered over weed by many, but that could be changing. That might not be great news for vino makers, but is a positive step for consumers, particularly women. Women make nearly 60 percent of wine purchases, leading vineyards and producers to market to them with greater intensity and focus, and earning wine the incredibly creepy nickname “mommy juice” in some circles. (Do you say that? Stop.)
Your favorite beach read, the American Journal of Public Health, published a study in June 2015 that “estimated the prevalence of any drinking and binge drinking from 2002 to 2012, and heavy drinking from 2005 to 2012 in every US county.” It uncovered that men’s binge drinking grew 4.9 percent in that time, while women’s binge drinking grew at a much higher rate of 17.5 percent.
This isn’t to say that a single glass of wine is the devil’s sippy-cup and will inevitably lead to wreck and ruin (unless it’s a Pinot spilled onto a white linen shirt). But many of us know at least one person who has slowly progressed from a glass of wine after work on Friday, to a couple of nights a week, to a bottle or more most nights. Even in moderation, a glass of wine contains 100 to 300 calories, which can be an issue for those watching their health. Furthermore, alcohol is dehydrating and can result in drier skin, and the histamines in red wine can result in skin flare-ups for those with rosacea and other inflammatory skin conditions.
Reaching for a wine glass instead of a joint can be attributed to a number of factors.
