Wine author highlights wine consumption and moderation as holidays approach

A new campaign is encouraging Canadians to be mindful of the amount of alcohol they consume this holiday season.

Halifax resident Mark Richard has a moderate approach to drinking during the holidays.

He takes it easy, and knows he shouldn’t consume too much alcohol.

“It’s nice to see the extra patrols out,” said Richard. “Knowing that some people aren’t conscientious about that.”

Natalie MacLean has written a new book called “Wine Witch on Fire: Rising from the Ashes of Divorce, Defamation, and Drinking Too Much,” which captures some key chapters in MacLean’s life.

“It is a message that I hope to share with a lot of people,” said MacLean. “It is about having a good relationship with alcohol.”

In the book, MacLean wrote about times in her life when she knew she was drinking too much wine.

“Asking myself, what was the thought just before the thought that said, ‘I needed a drink,’” said MacLean who writes about wine for a living and has informed statistics on the alcoholic content of different brands.

“The bonus about Nova Scotia wine - not only does it taste great, but it also tends to be low in alcohol. As low as 6.5 per cent,” said MacLean. “Compare that to this great wine from Ontario. It has 12.5 per cent.”

Some Western Canadian wines are as high a 14 per cent.

These are relevant statistics, says MacLean, when it comes to monitoring your wine and overall alcohol consumption.

If person has three 9-ounce glasses of wine, MacLean said they are in fact consuming more than a bottle of wine in one sitting.

“You always say you’ll have just one,” said bartender Niam Lucier, who added people often inadvertently drink too much. “It is very easy for people to just say I’ll just have one more glass and then another glass and they’re at that almost-at-the-bottle point.”

MacLean helps people to find the proper amount to drink at one time that suits them.

“I think it is something we all can benefit from.”