Is wine a posh drink?

What a great story - you must have found a gem!

Carol I have a confession. When I was invited to spend time with my newly met, husband to be, I set off from Kingsbridge in Devon to meet him in Lostwithiel in Cornwall. Before leaving home, he gave me instructions on how best to reach my destination. I was told NOT to go into Liskeard...but, I somehow missed the turn and did just that. I then found myself sitting between umpteen floats in the annual carnival I asked a man dressed as a clown - 'Am I on my way to...?' He replied - 'Eventually!'
Once out of the carnival, I proceeded towards Bodmin...had seen a sign to Lostwithiel [which I shouldn't have taken.] Eventually made my way down a long, winding, leafy hill [expecting or hoping to spot my man waiting on a given corner, as promised.] Only of course, he was still waiting at the top of the nominated hill...had been there AGES! I found the village pub. Nice folk welcomed me and one good man went off to find my man. 'He'll be there forever, if I don't,' he smiled. In the meantime, the jolly crowd and I had a few glasses of . When the good man eventually came through the door with my smiling man [looking well-pleased that I had in fact arrived] I realised that I was well and truly tipsy. I had to concetrate very hard in order to get off the high bar stool. My man took me to his cosy home and spent the best part of the night nursing me through an humungous hangover. He proposed marriage two weeks later. We met courtesy of Dateline. Happy ever after story to be told some 24 years later.

I have never actually fallen down, but I have had to put a hand on each table as I left a bar from time to time. My worst effect in my drinking days was having a complete blackout and not knowing where I was when I woke up.

SOOP What a day full of laughter this is turning out to be! I have been that wobbly walking woman on quite a few occasions!

Was referring to the original post Greatnan

grannyactivist you can measure the quality of a decent glass of by the manner in which you rise [gingerly] from your chair and attempt to walk in a lady-like fashion towards the open door...

Don't drink much, but wine is my tipple when I do. Wine isn't posh, but homemade wine is very special. I once drank two small glasses of peach wine made by a friend and it was soooo potent I felt quite tipsy.

One of the most delicious 'country wines' that I've imbibed, was a well-matured rhubarb. After just two [generous] glasses I was giggly...after which, I developed rib-rockin' hiccups.

I now drink one glass of rose with my dinner each night, slightly diluted by water - this is to help in keeping my bp down. However, I drank at least one bottle of wine a day for many years and I was very relieved to find (from blood tests during a complete health MOT) that I had not damaged my liver.
Middle aged and middle class women are being treated more and more often for liver failure - I have the facts from the horse's mouth as my daughter was Drug and Alcohol Action officer for a large local authority. I am afraid the quality of the wine makes no difference to its harmful effects.
The common picture of young binge drinkers falling out of clubs at weekends is only part of the story.

Elderberry and runner bean was the second best.

I used to make 'country wines'. My best ones were what I called 'generic' reds, made of a mixture of red fruits (blackcurrants, elderberries, etc) plus vegetables such as beetroot. I don't remember them giving me headaches so I guess it is the sulphites.

On Sunday I was drinking a really posh (or expensive) wine brought by my nephew when he came to lunch. A 20 year old Pomerol. It was lovely and mellow. Nephew is a wine buff but I just get something modest from the supermarket.

I like a good cider as much as wine.

Try not to drink more than 10 units a week.

My daughter is going to start growing vines in her huge garden in NZ. I like NZ wine, so I look forward to it.

What's that, Jingle - did you mean to post a link?

Well, Greatnan saw this on the Wright Stuff. So it's not just us!

In rural Italy a lot of people still make their own wine (often with home grown grapes) My husband has made wine for years even when we lived in Manchester. The grapes came from Italy and were sold at the wholesale market.Last year the grapes were grown by our neighbour and we picked them ourselves.The advantage of home made is that it only contains grapes, no preservatives such as sulphites which is what usually gives you a headache!! I can certainly drink more homemade than shop bought without any ill effect! My brother who appreciates good wine certainly liked it when he visited us!!

I thought it was just on here!

Why does everyone, in the media and otherwise, seem to obsessed with what's 'posh' and what's not?

I have 6 bottles of wine in my wine rack so am I extra, extra posh (hic)

Hunt - yes, it is a lot easier to decline a drink these days. As well as the drink-driving issue, people in general are becoming more health-conscious and aware of the damage that can be caused by habits such as drinking alcohol and smoking.

bags, I too used to follow Malcolm Gluck's recommendations (if I could afford them) and really missed him when he gave up his column. He was irreplaceable.

As I remember wine 40 years ago, Mateus Rose and Blue Nun were the thing most of us drank except at Christmas when it was something with bubbles!

Anyway, wine can't be posh as I had 3 glasses last night (please don't tell the authorities!!) and I'm still me!

It is easier, isn't it? I didn't drink alcoholic drinks when I was a student. Just didn't like them. But when I said "no thanks, it's wasted on me" people would be really pushy and usually fill my glass. I'd just leave it there.

I didn't begin to enjoy wine until I was in my thirties. Couldn't afford it before then anyway. What got me into it was reading an article by the wine buff, Malcolm Gluck, in the Guardian. He said that a certain Spanish white wine (Torres Esmeralda) had a "banana like middle". I thought what rot! and decided to try it. I was amazed! He was dead right! So I took to reading his column and trying some of the wines he recommended.

It took me forty yearsto realise that not only did I not like wine , it did not like me. Now when offered a glass of wine I say,''No, thank you, I'm not thirsty''. There's no answer to that. Thinking about this has made me realise that it is so much easier to say ''no thank you'' today than it was years ago. Maybe it's the drink/drive laws that have led to this.

And no doubt the British are the world's finest connoisseurs of coffee!
Is there any area in which we don't excel?