I thought this was fitting for Sober October.
I love bubbles and I’d always been a fizzy wine kind of girl, but then I decided to stop drinking alcohol.
That was more than 2.5 years ago. It wasn’t as difficult as you might expect – thanks largely to the fact I researched going alcohol-free before I took the step so was prepared in advance. I read loads of information, as well as quit lit and factual books such as Alcohol Explained, and I made use of the resources available at Janey Lee Grace’s The Sober Club.
Alcohol no longer brought me any joy or added any value to my life. It had been the cause of too many arguments, embarrassing situations (same for most people I’m sure) and the hangovers were becoming unbearable. I’d been drinking since I was 17 and now in middle age, I couldn’t remember what it was like not to drink.
I’m not talking about being fall-down drunk, but rather about what is known as ‘grey area drinking’. A way of being where alcohol – often wine – is a regular part of life. A glass to unwind after work in the evening, a glass with dinner, a few glasses while at the pub or out for a meal at weekends. It creeps up on you. I’m sure many people would be shocked if they actually worked out how many units of alcohol they consumed in a week, just in those glasses of chill juice.
I wanted to know what I was like as a person if I didn’t drink wine. I wanted to know if I would even like me. It had been so long.
So I stopped.
What was it like?
I had a few cravings in the early days, but remarkably few. Now I don’t even think about it. I do sometimes get hit out of the blue with a craving – an ad on TV showing a glass of ice-cold white wine, with condensation running down the outside of the glass for example. But it’s rare. And ads are supposed to do that, that’s their job.
I know it’s not that easy for everybody and some people really struggle with going alcohol-free. I don’t know why it wasn’t like that for me – perhaps it was just the right time in my life – but I’m grateful to the universe nonetheless!
I do know that discovering alcohol-free fizzy wine had a positive effect. Yes it’s different in that there’s something missing – the alcohol of course – but it’s the same in that it gives that fizzy bubbles experience.
I CANNOT drink soft drinks – coke, lemonade, they’re just too sweet after one or two – but I find alcohol-free fizzy wine so easy to drink. I really liked sherbet as a kid so I think it’s a fizz thing with me (with the UK meaning of a fizzy powder, rather than the US frozen dessert).
Fizzy wine and friends without the alcohol
Discovering alcohol-free fizzy wine means I can enjoy a grown-up drink and it’s not so sweet it sets my teeth on edge. I wholeheartedly agree with Janey whose mantra is keep the ritual but change the ingredients – I drink my fizzy wine from a wine glass and I think the experience is all the better for that.
I know some people don’t get it and that’s fine. I’ve seen people close to me smirk when they see me with my glass of fizz. Each to their own. (I have been known to do my own bit of smirking the day after when they’re in agony with their hangover).
Something I didn’t know would happen when I decided to live alcohol-free – I’ve become somewhat of an expert on AF wine, fizzy especially, but also still white. And beer. And spirits.
So if you’re thinking of reducing your alcohol intake or living your life alcohol-free, I thought I’d write a few reviews of my favourite drinks over the coming weeks. I hope they’re useful to you on your journey.