wine, winter, & warmth

by John Fanning

Winter has arrived and most of us are spending a lot more of our time indoors. A snug home with a roaring fire can lessen the effects of “cabin fever” and help you ride out the winter in comfort and bliss. But the picture is not yet complete; don’t you need a strong winter drink to cozy up to that fire with? Maybe a winter classic such as a glass of rich Port or full bodied red wine to help warm your belly and stave off the winter chills? In reality, while the glass of wine in front a warm fire fantasy is quite tempting, you may actually want to take it easy on the alcohol if your intention is to warm yourself up.

While a bit of wine does cause your body to feel warmer, the opposite is actually happening. Alcohol can act as a vasodilator, meaning that it dilates surface blood vessels. The dilation of these blood vessels does indeed cause you to temporarily feel warmer. In reality, the feeling of warmth is misleading, as the expansion of blood vessels actually causes you to lose body heat.

Why then does our culture have the prevalent idea that people in colder countries always warm themselves with alcohol? Maybe it’s the media. How many movies or TV shows include scenes of the classic image shown below? Also, many of us have stereotypes of the Irish battling the damp, rainy days with a dark beer, the Scottish holding off the wet, windy climate with whiskey, or Russians not surviving their dark, cold winters without vodka. According to anthropologist Dennis O’ Neil, “Many people living in freezing climates drink alcohol to warm themselves. This increases blood flow to the body extremities, thereby providing a feeling of warmth. However, it results only in a temporary warming and can speed up the loss of heat from the vital internal organs, resulting in more rapid death from hypothermia.” More likely, people in such countries suffer from the boredom of being trapped indoors so often, and drinking is a classic combatant to boredom.

Of course, by no means does this imply that your glass of wine in front of the fire is detrimental to your health. It is just important to see it as a comforting luxury, rather than a biological method of battling the cold. In conclusion, enjoy that wonderful glass of wine this winter, but recognize that drinking alcohol to get warmer will actually accomplish just the opposite.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR John Fanning has worked at vineyards and wineries all over the world, including the Finger Lakes, Oregon, and Tuscany. He is currently a Wine Specialist at Marketview Liquor in Henrietta.