Sunday, February 10, 2013

Wine 1 Viv 0

When I was in my twenties I could enjoy a glass of wine without feeling ill or funny.

The first time I realised that I may not be able to drink wine, was when I was in my early thirties, I went to a  work luncheon.

I only had a half a glass of wine with my lunch.

Afterwards I picked my daughters up from school and had to pull the car over because I had to throw up, fortunately we were on an isolated piece of road.

After reassuring the girls that I was not dying but seemed to be reacting to the wine I had with my lunch, we went home.

A few years later I met Michael.  He took me to a restaurant for my birthday.  I had only one glass of wine but I started talking gibberish to the waitress and then spent the rest of my birthday throwing up.

Michael was very amused by this, saying that wine made me a "cheap date".

It became apparent that I could not drink wine at all and it made no difference whether it was cheap or expensive wine; red or white.  Funny thing is it is not an alcohol allergy, I can drink beer, sparkling wine and spirits.

Last year I won a competition to go to the Western Cape for the weekend.  I was very happy to win this competition as my eldest daughter lives in Cape Town and I wanted to see her more than anything.  I became very nervous when I saw that the main event on the itinerary was a wine tasting.  If you do not know South Africa, the Western Cape has ideal conditions for grape growing and some of the best wines in the world come from this region.

My family and friends were very amused that I should be going to a wine tasting but everybody reassured me , "Don't worry your simply spit it out." I had visions of myself rushing to the bathroom with a mouth full of wine or passing my wine glass to Michael when nobody was looking.  Fortunately they give you these spittoon type thingies and it is all very elegant. (Ok, not really, spitting is never elegant)

Last  Christmas I received a bottle of wine from Michael's brother and his wife for Christmas.  When I opened it I said to Michael, seeing that my sister-in-law is highly allergic to pork I should have bought her a roast gammon for Christmas.  I also know that she does not like coffee so I suggested a pack of different coffees as her next Christmas present.

Sigh, I will never be an elegant lady when I go to a smart dinner.   When everybody else is sipping wine I am swigging beer.


4 comments:

  1. It is sooo good to have friends like you xxxx

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  2. It's interesting how our bodies change over time. You used to be able to drink wine in your twenties. The exact same thing that you describe now happens to me with beer. I used to enjoy an ice cold beer or two in or three in the summer. As I got older, it was almost overnight, I got sick. Now all I have to do is look at a beer. I live in CA wine country so fortunately it's beer that makes me sick and not wine. Well, fortunate is not the right word. We also have quite a few microbreweries around here. Tough luck for me, but if you ever visit you'll have plenty of brews to choose from.

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  3. We could make the perfect drinking team. Oh my word that sounds terrible ;-)

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