The Case for Inebriation
...and the role wine should play in its pursuit.
The case for inebriation, particularly in its controlled form, is strong. Even stronger is the case for controlled inebriation with wine. That case needs to be made—even celebrated.
I will be the first to admit that in my years, I have occasionally unburdened my sense of self-respect due to being overly inebriated. Mostly, these moments have been with alcohol at the helm, but other substances have also been the driver of my self-abasement. I did, after all, attend three years of college at Humboldt State University.
However, the number of times I found myself over-inebriated pales in comparison to the seemingly innumerable times I’ve pursued and achieved controlled inebriation. Moreover, I keenly remember and often cherish the latter moments, while the former are shadowy moments of blur.
My point is this: My—and probably your—history of mild and controlled inebriation has been part of a distinctly human practice that reaches back and across civilizations in which mild and intentional intoxication has been properly ritualized as a gateway to connection, creativity, and reflection. It’s not escape—it’s engagement that makes life not just tolerable but enjoyable. Moreover, using wine as the engine of this kind of inebriation is nothing less than the embrace of a gift.
In the first place, let’s give inebriation the respect it deserves. Even before humans began to brew and ferment in purposeful fashion (13,000 and 9,000 years ago, respectively), our primate ancestors appeared to gravitate toward inebriation. Just last month, researchers concluded that even today, chimpanzees consume the equivalent of 2.5 human drinks daily.
The result of controlled inebriation among the human sort has always been the same: social bonding, ritual, and pleasure. And it’s that latter thing (pleasure) that is truly important and that leads me to better explain what I mean by the joy that is “controlled inebriation”:
"A deliberate, mindful engagement with altered states of consciousness—where pleasure, connection, and reflection are heightened without surrendering agency, dignity, or discernment.”
Joy, taste, and altered states—when responsibly managed—are part of a full life. On the contrary, abstinence often frames pleasure as risk, not the rich experience we all know it can be. In fact, I’m here to argue that total avoidance of inebriation flattens the complexity of the human experience. Controlled inebriation, on the other hand, embraces moderation, context, and personal agency. More importantly, and particularly when engaged in with like-minded souls, controlled inebriation lubricates our willingness to hear others out on even the most fringy ideas, to disengage from that stingy state of total self-control, and to share honesties without the burden of self-consciousness.
We should studiously avoid, and recommend others do also, a life stationed in the harsh grip of abstinence.
But inebriation can be achieved with many substances, be it bourbon, beer, cannabis, psychedelics, or pharmaceuticals, to name just a few vehicles to that alter the state of consciousness. But it is with wine that deliberate, mindful engagement with inebriation is best pursued. The case for wine in this context is strong.
First, no other inebriant pays the kind of sensory dividends as wine does, even before its buzzy effects set in. Spirits, brews, cannabis, pills, mushrooms, and injectables are not on the same plane as wine, where deliciousness is concerned. This is a hill I’ll die on. I’ve heard arguments that cannabis can be “absolutely delicious”. No, it can’t. At best, it’s a skunky, lemony, woody, musky, petrolly mish-mash made palatable almost exclusively by a chocolate mask. Mushrooms? Please! Injectables and tablets, too, have no discernible pleasure to offer.
While bourbon and brews deliver a diverse set of delicious aromas and tastes, I’ll argue that their diversity is nowhere close to what wine can deliver.
But then consider how the different forms of inebriants bring on the buzz. At 10% to 15% alcohol content, wine is in the sweet spot that allows controlled inebriation to come on slowly but not too slowly, while that buzz can be maintained throughout an evening with friends or while lying around a pool at a Mexican all-inclusive all afternoon with nothing more than on and off sips. Meanwhile, at its usual 5% alcohol content, beer and its similar companions require close proximity to bathrooms to get to that just so state of buzz that is still controllable. Spirits, on the other hand, because of their high alcohol content, don’t allow one to enjoy both an evening-length sipping session as well as a controllable buzz. Cannabis can be explosive in its buzzy onset, while injectables and pills are simply a pathway to outage.
To put a point on it, wine’s effects are tasty, gentle, and predictable—perfect for enhancing mood without overwhelming it.
Finally, the argument for wine as the vehicle to inebriation is capped by its cultural relevance. Wine has been and remains woven into art, religion, politics, and family traditions. It connects people across generations and geographies. Every bottle is a lesson in soil, law, labor, and history. And on top of all these important qualities, wine is the most diverse inebriant we have. In short, if controlled inebriation is and should be an essential part of a life well lived, then wine is the perfect vehicle for altering the consciousness.
We are warned today at nearly every turn that alcohol (including wine) will harm you from sip number one. We are taught this in the media, in school, and, more and more, by a voracious contingent of nannies who thrill at the prospect of ripping pleasure from our grasp. Ignore them. These are the Soul Eaters, the vampires, and the Succubi of pleasure and joy.
While it is true that moving vehicles and machinery that can catch your shirt should be avoided when we put ourselves in a state of controlled inebriation, this is not a tall task. In fact, modern life is built more and more to accommodate those who choose to smooth their lenses and view the world slightly askew. Never in history has the world been better suited to accommodate a little inebriation.
Pick your spots well. Don’t pursue or let yourself fall into excess. But yes, decidedly yes, choose to surround yourself with like-minded friends and a few bottles of fine wine and let yourself descend into controlled inebriation. If that means easy dancing, discussions of the ludicrous, one too many hugs, or a round of verbose toasts, then let it come. Your life will be better for it, your palate stimulated, and you will be communing with 13,000 years of humanity.
Yes, celebrate and practice the act of controlled inebriation.
I just finished rereading Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, with this great passage toward the end, when he's finally freed (briefly) of his tiresome friends after a week of heavy drinking at the fiesta in Pamplona:
"I went in and ate dinner. It was a big meal for France but it seemed very carefully apportioned after Spain. I drank a bottle of wine for company. It was a Château Margaux. It was pleasant to be drinking slowly and to be tasting the wine and to be drinking alone. A bottle of wine was good company."
You've coined a wonderful phrase; and promulgated moderation, even with being inebriated a little. It's what many of us these daze are writing about in such ways as to continue wine's lifecycle by highlighting its importance to society; if that society is to continue to evolve in life-sustaining ways. Kudos Tom.