How much alcohol do you drink?

Just interested in a rough estimate of the average alcohol consumption per week for WLDGers.

Please include all alcoholic beverages (not just wine).
Assuming 1 unit = 10 ml alcohol.
Approximate quantities provided ("one glass" assumed to be 150 ml / 5 US fl. oz. in size).

[James Roscoe]

OOPS! I thought it said per day and voted accordingly. The results are already screwed up. Sorry Ben.

I voted 8 to 15 units but it is difficult to tell without keeping a journal. Some days Liz and I have no alcohol at all and other days Liz and I'll have a drink then split a bottle of wine with dinner. My adult sons, one of whom is an accomplished bartender, like to try making different drinks and I always try them; they also share the wine that I open with dinner which impacts on how much is available for me (we rarely open two bottles with dinner).

Later: As I think about it and re-read the definition of a unit, I am more likely at the 30 unit/week level.

[Robin Garr]

Interesting question! I voted "6 to 8 units" or about 1 to 1.5 bottles per week, where in the past I would have answered a significantly larger number. Not that I don't love wine, and I certainly don't feel that I was consuming excessively before, but with changes in the economy and my life diverging into multiple careers, I publish the 30 Second Wine Advisor only once a week these days, compared with five weekly at its peak in the late '90s and early '00s, and three times weekly for many years. My wine consumption tends to be related more or less directly to the number of wine articles I'm going to write, and it's hard to justify a great deal of "recreational" wine on the basis of either cost or calorie ingestion.

There's also the reality that Mary and I will often consume only half of a bottle in a sitting. A good wine, we'll make last for two sittings, reducing the weekly total; less memorable wines hit the drain, which also reduces our weekly consumption to a point significantly lower than the number of bottles we open. (I interpreted the poll in terms of how much we consume, not how much we open, since those numbers may differ.)

[David M. Bueker]

I'm still busy doing the math, as half or more of the wine I drink is 9% alcohol or less.

The math boggles; so I'll just say "enough."

Don't have enough fingers and toes to count.

[David M. Bueker]

Math done - essentially two bottles per week in a "normal" week.

....less memorable wines hit the drain, which also reduces our weekly consumption to a point significantly lower than the number of bottles we open.

Apparently, Robin, this means that you do not open another bottle when the first disappoints, is that right? Is that always true? I am just the opposite and always get a second bottle when the first is not to my liking at a restaurant or at home.

[Robin Garr]

Apparently, Robin, this means that you do not open another bottle when the first disappoints, is that right? Is that always true? I am just the opposite and always get a second bottle when the first is not to my liking at a restaurant or at home.

Interesting question, Jon, and one that I did not take into account. My best answer is "sometimes." First, I'm pretty good at picking wines that Mary and I won't hate, so stylistic issues are not much of a factor in going back for another try except for the occasional corked wine, which I will usually replace with another. I rarely if ever discard and buy another in a restaurant - the markup would discourage me, and again, I'm usually pretty good on picking something I'll like.

So, yeah, sure, on occasion, but it's rare.

[Jenise]

OOPS! I thought it said per day and voted accordingly. The results are already screwed up. Sorry Ben.

Ben has vote-changing enabled, so you're able to correct your answer.

Thanks to all those who've voted.

I'm not sure that a number number of 28 votes is statistically significant, but thus far the average is certainly at the upper end of the spectrum.