In Defense of Wine

Around the globe, much of the wine world is feeling besieged and stigmatized.

Sales are down, way down for some. New studies suggest that any consumption of alcohol is unhealthful. New diseases are preying on grapevines, older maladies seem more prevalent and climate change — which has caused subtle and violent changes to weather patterns and more frequent catastrophic events like spring frost, hail, drought and fire — poses a threat to the existence of small growers and producers.

I don’t want to speculate here on the systemic reasons that wine sales are down, or question the credibility of the World Health Organization, which published the 2023 study asserting that even moderate consumption of alcohol was unhealthy. Others have tried to do that.

Instead, I want to stand up for the beauty and joy of wine, which has been embraced by humans since the dawn of civilization. Wine has played a role in religions and been a beloved element of many societies. It is often integral to people’s cultural identities. For centuries, wine was a necessity for many people, safer to drink than water.

It’s not essential to survival any longer. People in countries like France and Italy drink far less wine than they once did because it’s now a choice, not a necessity. Wine endures because of the deep and subtle pleasures it offers.

Yes, wine is an alcoholic beverage. Good wine is far more. Wine drinkers enjoy the buzz, but if that were the only element sought, wine would be no more than an intoxicant.

Sadly, many in the wine industry fear that, as marijuana has become easier and less risky to obtain, wine will lose out to legalized cannabis as people trade one high for another.