I can remember that day in 2005 vividly.
It was a day on which I felt vindicated for choosing wine as my adult beverage of choice.
I’ve never been snobbish about wine, but there will always be people who make the “wine-and-snob” connection regardless.
But on that day in 2005, any basis for such an assertion dissipated.
On that day, it was announced that wine had surpassed beer as the favorite adult beverage among Americans of legal drinking age. And how could one possibly be snobbish about something that was No. 1 in popularity?
I recall writing a detailed report on the results of that survey, and then CCing it to all of my beer-drinking friends. In those personal emails, long since deleted, I probably included a note that read something along the lines of, “How does it feel to be No. 2?” Hey, if you can’t lay the smack down on your friends, why have friends?
Alas, wine’s reign as America’s most popular adult beverage was short-lived. One year later, a survey conducted by the same company (Gallup) revealed that beer had regained its crown. Wine once again was No. 2.
To their credit, none of my beer-drinking friends sent a retaliatory email.
What I learned from that whole episode is that everything in life is cyclical—including the type of beverages American adults choose to consume.
So, while I’m happy that the latest Gallup poll shows wine has regained its throne, I’m not going to claim victory until “we” have made it two in a row.
And I won’t be completely satisfied until folks in the Midwest—where wine ranks third behind beer and liquor—see the error of their ways.
Meanwhile, heartfelt congratulations to the women of America. According to Gallup, women prefer wine over beer and liquor… combined.
