Trust me, I get it, when you're stuck between a rock and a hard place on how to cut down drinking wine without giving it up completely...
Because let's be real, wine is amazing on so many different levels. Lucky for us, we do not have to totally give it up.
All we have to do is learn how to find our balance and get into alignment with wine.
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When I worked in Napa Valley, drinking wine was basically second nature. It's almost just the culture of the valley (which makes sense!). So, once I left I had to learn my balance with drinking wine (especially since I wasn't getting top dollar wines for free anymore).
You will learn the top tips on how to cut down on drinking wine that will bring you into balance with drinking, AND still allow you to enjoy the beauty and art of wine!
This post is all about how to cut down on drinking wine.
How to Cut Down on Drinking Wine
How to cut down on drinking tips
1. Use the Sunnyside app
A superb way to start cutting down on drinking wine is using the Sunnyside app. It's all about helping you get to a place of mindful drinking.
What is especially cool about Sunnyside is they built this program based on neuroscience. So, your habit forming program is not just a shot in the dark, it is backed by research.
2. Set clear limits
When we begin to drink less wine, it is SO critical to set clear limits for yourself. Get out your journal and start to brainstorm what exactly you are trying to get out of your drinking habits.
Are you a social drinker? If yes, then how many glasses are you okay with having?
3. Surround yourself with loved ones
If you are surrounding yourself with your loved ones in a wholesome environment, then drinking in excess *might* not happen as much. But, this also depends on your family dynamic.
In a study of parents' habit of drinking, they noted that they are less likely to drink more when their children are present. So, shifting our life to be surrounded by supportive family members can help us not reach for the bottle *as much*.
4. A non-habitual ritual
Now, this can come off in a few different ways.
I mean ritual in the sense that you have a bottle of wine with your partner on date night, or on the full moon, or in honor of something specific that doesn't happen often.
Drinking in ritual, in this sense, does not mean to habitually drink. You are not coming home from work every night and snagging that bottle of wine, which can be a ritual and a habit.
But, rather finding something that is important to you that doesn't occur very often and putting meaning and intention behind it.
5. Make herbal teas
Honestly, the best way to drink less wine is to replace your wine drinking with something else that is also enjoyable. I love making herbal teas with loose herbs.
You can get fun tea making equipment, experiment with different herbs, and more. A really unique brand is Rishi Tea. They have botanical caffeine-free powders that will blow your mind!
Or choose loose teas and make your own simple tea like:
6. Understand red wines daily dosage
Believe it or not, people are interested in "red wines daily dosage" since there may be health benefits to wine (antioxidants, etc).
A proven dosage for red wine that you can understand is found in this guide. It is a great way to release drinkers guilt and get in alignment with the art and beauty of wine in a different way.
That can help you understand how much wine to drink and getting a baseline, then when you go to drink you can be more mindful.
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7. Go on a wine trip to wine country
A bit of an elaborate way to learn how to cut down on drinking wine. Though, working in Napa Valley gave me a unique perspective into wine and brought to really respect and understand it.
So, go to Napa or France or Italy and meet winemakers, learn the process, ask questions, sip delicious wine, and come home with a greater understanding and respect for it's process!
8. Get involved in a workout group
A classic "drink less" tip is to get involved in a workout class. Working out releases natural dopamine which you normally would get from drinking *a little too much* wine.
Not only that, it takes up a good amount of time away from the opportunity to drink. Then, you can have a glass of wine to reward yourself!
9. Pick an outdoor hobby
Similar to getting involved in a workout class, getting into an outdoor hobby or activity can give you natural dopamine and take up time you would otherwise be drinking.
Things like fishing, hiking, biking, running, tennis, pickle-ball, boating, camping, etc.
10. Only drink wine in a beauteous moment
Wine is special. I am sure you know that by now. So, save the wine for those beautiful moments. Just the other night, my fiance and I had a beautiful bottle of wine as we picked a date for our wedding.
It made the moment very special and we will look back and remember the amazing wine we had as we picked a date.
11. Sip don't gulp
Saving wine for beautiful moments AND sipping it will change your life. You will drink less wine because you are not inhaling it like it's a Chipotle burrito, but rather a delicate treat.
It's an important tool to pull out, especially if you are out drinking, just take sips and enjoy those sips. I guess you could call them "mindful sipping".
12. Avoid triggers
Have you heard this tip on how to drink less?! It is CRUCIAL, and I am obsessed with this theory.
Throughout our day we are constantly consuming content, information, this, that, and everything in between. But, what we don't realize is some of those things are actually alcohol cues that subconsciously lead us to drinking...
Check out proven alcohol craving symptoms and causes to gain a better idea of what an alcohol cue is and how to avoid them!
13. Find a friend or your spouse that can be your accountability partner
Doesn't need much explaining! But, when my partner and I plan a month or so without drinking it makes it 100000x easier.
Instead, we workout, make amazing dinners, go on walks, etc. So, find a friend, or spouse, that wants to drink less with you as well. Maybe that looks like only going out for a glass of wine then going home. It can look different for everyone obviously!
14. Practice the 1/2/3 rule
An amazing trick to drinking less, and this one is especially when you are out drinking, is the 1/2/3 rule.
No more than 1 drink per hour, no more than 2 drinks per day, and no more than 3 drinks per week.
Grab your friend and try it.
15. Stay hydrated
Let's be honest, drinking too much gets you SERIOUSLY dehydrated. Have you ever woken up like it was the 10th day stuck out in the desert with no water?
Have a glass of wine, then drink a soda water, then think about another glass of wine... Use hydrating as a chance to slow down, be mindful, and take your time.
16. Use the 20-minute rule
Which leads me to my next point, the 20 minute rule. Once you feel a craving or like you want another glass of wine, set your timer for 20 minutes. They say, alcohol cravings usually only last about 6 minutes then they dissipate.
17. Set financial limits
How often do we spend too much on drinking? Especially when we go out! A great tip on how to cut down on drinking wine is to set financial limits for yourself.
When I go out, it is very infrequent, but I tend to just throw my credit card onto any bar and not even blink an eye. (Even though, that very morning I didn't grab a coffee because I was trying to save money!)
18. Seek professional help if needed
If drinking in excess is an issue for you that you can't seem to get a handle on. Though, you are not seeking Alcoholics Anonymous, check out Better Help for some therapeutic release!
19. Reward yourself
Reward yourself for a good job's done when you have successfully began the journey of drinking less! Maybe that means ice cream, your favorite restaurant, getting that dress you've had open on your browser for too long!
Practicing that will start to train your mind that drinking less = good. Instead of, drinking less = painful.
20. Use visual cues to signal when you're done drinking
A.k.a. you have hit your limit! Say, you are just trying to have one glass of wine at your friends dinner party or when you are drinking at home and trying to drink less and find more balance.
Here are some visual cue ideas:
- Light a candle when you start drinking, when you "hit your limit" blow out the candle as a mental reminder it's time to be done
- Always have a glass of water with your wine to remind yourself to hydrate and pace yourself
- On your last drink, change cups into a "last drink" cup. After a while, your brain will connect that cup with your last drink.
Home remedies to reduce wine consumption
21. Eat and drink together
You can find this tip literally anywhere. People will say to “combine food with drinks” to ease the effects of alcohol and help you digest it. Well, I’m here to say this is 100% true. Personally, I love to open a bottle of wine while making dinner, or before dinner, and have an “appetizer glass of wine” before eating. I don’t know what it is, it is just the best way to do it.
Try it out next date night. It’s just like going out and grabbing a drink before a dinner date! It’s glorious.
22. Designate no wine days
A great tip on how to cut down on drinking wine is to block days off in your weekly calendar. This is when a mini reflection is helpful to understand what days are your weak spot, what days do you just drink to drink, and what kind of habit do you have?
Block it off in your calendar and set a reminder on your phone, so on Mondays and Tuesdays your phone will vibrate and give you a boost of motivation to veer away from the bottle.
23. Create you home to support your decision to drink less wine
The classic saying, “you are your environment.” Or the others is, “you are the 5 people you surround yourself with.” Well, if you are trying to drink less wine and be more mindful, then your environment will be crucial.
Even things like your wine bar… How many bottles do you have? Do you have everything any wine drinker could possibly want?! Is it right in your face when you get home?
Well, maybe gently placing it in storage for a little while until we get a handle on this whole wine-drink-balance thing! You get the point? Put yourself in situations where you don’t even have the temptation of drinking. It is way easier to avoid temptations than resist temptations.
24. Vinebox mini-wine tastings
A sure way to drink less wine is to only drink mini wine tastings. Vinebox delivers three tubes of 100mL of hand curated wines to your door EVERY MONTH. Their wines are from all over the world and are ah-may-zing.
It can also teach us how to be more mindful and to 'slow drink' (since you only get one glass). From personal experience, Vinebox is well worth it.
I got two Italian reds and a French red. Both me and my partner were blown away. A perfect amount to enjoy and not drink too much!
25. Invest in smaller glasses
I know this is not the thing you want to hear… But, it can really help to learn how to cut down on drinking wine. Think about it, if you were to have one glass of wine on Thursdays, but the glass was smaller… You’d hit that goal with flying colors. SO, invest in smaller glasses!
The bar I worked at over summer, we were told to pour the wine glasses a little extra. For the business, it was fine but for the drinker it was a little different… They were thinking they were drinking one glass of wine when in reality they were drinking 1.5 or 1.8 glasses.
Here are some smaller wine glasses to check out:
26. Clearly measure your pour
Like I mentioned above, working at the bar that had us over-pouring wine glasses was not very fair to the drinker. A pour of wine is 5 ounces.
Tools to help you measure your pour:
- Measured wine glass (adorable!)
- 6.5 ounce carafe (perfect for two people)
You might be thinking, I love when they over pour me that is more bang for by buck!! Which is totally true. Though, are we drinking to get drunk or are we drinking to enjoy it and connect with the wine?
More is not always better.
Additionally, when a bar over pours your wine you could probably assume that it’s not the best wine. Right? If it was good wine they would be measuring their pours. Think about a fancier restaurant, they are going to measure their pours and be conscientious on how much they are serving. Right?
27. Use a wine journal
If you are anything like me, you might just adore having a wine journal. I have a weekly planner that is glued to my left hip at all times, with intricate systems and symbolism. It works to keep my life totally organized and on track with what I need to do.
Having a wine journal is like a daily planner, but for your drinking life! For me to stay on track with my to-do list, work, etc, my planner is my go-to. So, to stay on track with your drinking and squeezing out all the beauty of wine (instead of the ugly parts), use a wine journal!
The famous saying, “what you track, grows”. Well, in this case, “what you track, improves.”
28. Get a planner and plan the one night a week
On top of that, we can also use our personal life planners to plan out our drinking (calling all Type A’s out there!).
I love this tip on how to cut down on drinking wine because I will plan my whole week and REALLY look forward to when my man and I get to crack open that bottle, kick our feet up, and just enjoy each others company and the wine….
I use this weekly planner, it is a fill-in-the-blank type of planner so you can start it whenever and plan week by week!
29. Only drink top tier high-quality wine
An idea that might be foreign, or unreachable, to some. Though, it is a life saver when it comes to learning how to cut down on drinking wine. And let me just say, it is not unreachable! If you have went out to the bars and spend $50, then this is reachable!!
Once you start drinking high quality wines, you might not ever go back!! There is something unexplainable about high quality wines. My personal opinion is those are the sacred wines, made with meticulous care and attention to detail.
It’s like Louis Vuitton of wines.
Here are some top tier wines to get you started, look for wines that have higher ratings, and even ones in the Top 100 of 2024:
30. Do not spend less than $25 on a bottle
Seriously! Don’t do it! Under $25 is when wineries start to sacrifice the quality...
Now, let me be clear, there are tons of wines out there under $25 a bottle that are high quality and delicious. Though, for us common-folk, it is extremely hard to distinguish between the two.
Unless you do heavy heavy research and become an expert, but as a general rule, stay above $25 and 90% of the time you will be sipping some good wines!
Here is how to do that:
- Go to wine.com, find wines that are highly rated and/or in the Top 100!
31. Only buy one bottle at a time
This idea brings together a few different ones explained above. Only buying one bottle at a time will create an environment that supports you drinking less, you can splurge on a high-quality bottle, and clearly measure your pour so the bottle lasts longer!!
Not only that, having a bottle at a time will help you connect with wine deeper through one bottle at a time. Slow sipping, mindful drinking, and honoring the wine is what it is all about.
32. Set limits on when and where you will drink wine.
Our brains are impressionable, we can train our minds to learn whatever we want them to learn! So, to set limits on when and where you drink wine will begin to train your mind when and where it is okay to drink.
For example, maybe you only drink at dinner, you only drink on date night, you only drink out at high-class bars, etc.
33. Open a bottle as a sign of love and respect for loved ones
The really cool thing about wine is we get to use it as a tool for showing respect, love, appreciation, etc. For example, if you have family coming into town and want to show respect and honor the time you have with them… Open a high quality bottle of wine!
34. Learn drink pairings with complex foods
To go off the idea of combining drinking and eating, take it to the next level and combine complex foods with your wines.
It can depend, also, on the the type of wine you are drinking. Use the lovely thing called the internet to find unique recipes to pair with the wine you have. My man and I love to drink cabernet sauvignon with steak.. I mean, c’mon it is just the best.
But, you can get more creative than that!
35. Every time you drink wine, bless it
You might be aware of it, maybe not, that whatever energy you put into something you will get back. It is the Law of Attraction.
So, use this to your advantage and before you open and bottle of wine, or go out to the wine bar, say a little prayer to bless the bottle or to bless the time you will spend drinking.
To me, this add that element of intention. Our intentions can be so powerful, so use that to your advantage when learning how to cut down on drinking wine.
36. View wine as medicine
You will not take an entire bottle of Tylenol, so why drink an entire bottle of wine on your own?! It might seem like a bit of a stretch to say that wine is medicine… But, it can be if you start to treat it as such! Wine can help us relax, connect with others, give us some antioxidants, and more. Plus, it’s a medicine that ACTUALLY taste amazing… It’s like a win-win!
This post was all about how to cut down on drinking wine.
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