My New Year’s resolution is to cut down on my drinking. I’m not talking about bringing it within the NHS’s recommended limit, obviously. I’ve never met anyone who confines their alcohol intake to 14 units a week, which amounts to a bottle and a half of wine, ideally spread over many days. I’m thinking of something more in the region of two bottles a week.
Why not simply stop altogether? Partly because I’ve tried that before and don’t have the willpower. The longest stretch I’ve gone without a drink was in the two years leading up to my marriage in 2001, because I didn’t think Caroline would go through with it if I didn’t take the pledge. But I started again on my wedding day and since then, the best I’ve managed was to give up drinking for Lent a few years ago.
If I’m only allowed 100 bottles of wine a year, why waste any of my quota on the bad stuff?
The other reason is that as I’ve got older I’ve acquired a taste for fine wine – especially good claret.
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