Cup 🖤🖤❤️

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There’s a memorable scene from the movie The Godfather, where Don Vito Corleone is seen sitting in his garden, nursing a glass of red wine and talking mafia strategy with his son and successor Michael.

“I like to drink wine more than I used to. Anyway, I’m drinking more,” the ailing don says wistfully.
We are a species that loves our fermented grapes. We’ve been making and drinking wine since 6000 B.C. Even as far back as 2,000 years ago there were wine bars on every street in Roman cities. In 2014, Americans consumed an estimated 893 million gallons of wine. That’s a lot of quaffing.
But is the veneration of vino a good thing? We wine-sipping tipplers do a collective happy dance whenever a new study is published promoting the health benefits of wine in moderate consumption … as we plug our ears and hum loudly when other studies come out highlighting the health risks.

So with that in mind, here’s a look at all the different things science says about what can happen at wine o’clock — the good, the bad and the ugly all in their fermented glory.

To start things off, just what is moderate consumption? A standard drink is equal to 14.0 grams (0.6 ounces) of pure alcohol, which generally equates to 5 ounces of wine (and is roughly equivalent to 1.5 ounces of liquor or 12 ounces of beer, though variations in strength will throw that off). According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, moderate alcohol consumption means having up to one drink per day for women and up to two drinks per day for men. Most studies quantify amounts used in research.
If they start drinking daily and they drink a bottle or two a day, that's a disaster.” For those who can safely imbibe, one glass of dry red wine—like pinot noir or Cannonau—with the largest meal of the day is the very best pairing, O'Keefe says.