'How many glasses of wine can I have and then safely drive the car?" This is a question that I have pondered myself and heard pondered very often.
I live in the country where teetotallers are in great demand. During the festive season, people will, before getting behind the wheel, be doing calculations that would have broken the Enigma code. Some may not live to regret their decision. Depending on how many they kill, they may be better off that way.
Part of the problem is that we metabolise alcohol at different rates, and a lot of the time we do not have a very good idea how much we have drunk. Not everything is as easy to count as pints. Plus there is no such thing as a glass of wine. The thimbleful small glass that is often referred to has never been seen by a real person. I had a glass of wine during a break at a concert in Kilkenny and the glass was poured from the bottle, and was very generous indeed. I appreciated it. I was not driving. Usually in a pub you get a mini bottle, and that is definitely more than one of the 1960s tiny glasses.
Does anyone have a wine glass much smaller than a bucket at home? If you were served in a tiny glass at a friend's house you would terminate that friendship rapidly.
All that happens before you even consider the strength of the liquid. In the days when white wine was a nice afternoon pick-me-up it was probably about 8 or 9pc. Now you will go a long way before finding anything weaker than 12pc. I looked at a shelf of reds this morning. Most were 13 or 13.5pc and without looking too hard I found two that were 14.5 per cent. A few glasses of either of those and I will be in intensive care. I like to drink, but I hate to feel I have been hit on the back of the head after two glasses.
Source: John Masterson, Irish Independent, 22/12/14
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