You Can't Stop Drinking Good Wine, it's Addicting

Once you get hooked it's hard to unplug from the fine wine habit. No, I'm not talking about alcohol addiction here--at least I don't think I am. An abuser is someone with a social/medical problem. People who like good wine are aficionados and that sounds so much better.

And it's good for you, too!

Of course, you can get buzzed faster with wine than with beer because the alcohol levels are higher. Good wine doesn't have the stigma attached to it like the cheap, fortified stuff such as Mad Dog or like hard alcohol. The spirits manufacturers are learning though, as artisan spirits makers are all the rage along with single malt scotch.

Drinking good wine means you're successful in life because you can afford to spend forty bucks and up on converted grape juice.

With fine wine you can sound cultured talking about traits in that Cabernet or Chardonnay. The wine world is full of complexity and geeky terminology that you think you have to learn. If you're only familiar with a couple terms like malolactic and volatile acidity, for instance, that's not enough to keep up with the wine crowd so you must continue to learn--and drink.

Drinking from a paper bag holding a bottle of Annie Green Springs doesn't exactly look cool. Holding a glass of Pinot Noir is super-sophisticated. You are a connoisseur even if it's your fourth glass.

There's a bonding with like-minded folks who also are into fine wines. They have events called "wine tastings" where you go to someone's house and get drunk. But it's okay because you're learning.

It's great to find the seemingly weekly news tidbit on the health benefits of wine. You see people on the Food Network with wine. They serve wine at the White House. Obviously, you're pretty much being coerced into drinking wine.

The wine culture is so pervasive in California we have some new local laws promoting our wine habit:

• You can serve wine at the hairdresser. Good luck getting people to shut up and hold still after a couple glasses of Merlot. 
• Farmers markets can serve wine. After all, grapes are agriculture just like green beans only more fun.
• Under 21 kids can sip and spit (LOL on the spitting part) in their wine classes. Yes, in California you can get educated on drinking wine. You don't want to be a stupid wine drinker.

Wine is for celebrations, for toasting a special event, for Saturday night dinner out, for Sunday church, for increasing passion, for the end of another tough/boring day at work, to help you sleep, or when you're eating. Luckily, this covers most everything!

See, it's not that you have to drink good wine. It's actually part of a healthy life style just like exercising and eating fresh, organic vegetables. As it turns out the wine part of this life style is the easiest to maintain.