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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, June 20, 2007

RAISE A GLASS
Giving up wine, just temporarily

 •  Box it up

Raise a glass
By Lisa Gmur

I remember vividly the very pregnant woman holding a glass of wine on the cover of Wine Spectator back in 1994. I was seven months pregnant at the time, and it validated the glass of pricey chardonnay I craved with my spaghetti aglio olio and shrimp. And it also substantiated the glass of red I drank during the lasagna cravings of my pregnancy the year before. Who could have expected me to resist the extremely allocated 1988 Antinori Solaia I procured for my restaurant in Barbados that year? In fact, I probably would have enjoyed a glass in the first trimester as well if not for the perpetual nausea.

This time around, I am once again plagued with morning, noon and night sickness, but that's not what's stopping me from drinking wine. Yes, it helps that the aroma of that New Zealand sauvignon blanc I relished before now sends me running, but this time, I am older, wiser and more educated on the risks associated with drinking alcohol while pregnant, especially during the critical first trimester. There are still those who sign off on an occasional glass of wine, but today, most physicians recommend total abstinence from alcohol.

The reason for this modern-day mantra is all about the baby. Fetal alcohol syndrome is a pattern of mental and physical defects that develops in some unborn babies when the mother drinks "too much" alcohol during pregnancy. Fetal alcohol effects is less serious, but can still affect development in the same ways. Some developmental defects include mental retardation; learning disabilities; kidney problems; fused, webbed and missing fingers and toes; small body size; organ deformities; and curved spine. It's no surprise that all this has many women, including myself, rethinking that occasional glass of wine.

The campaign against not drinking alcohol during pregnancy actually started in 1973 when several studies showed that "heavy" drinking during pregnancy caused fetal alcohol syndrome. In fact, since 1990, every bottle of wine, beer and spirits sold in the United States has carried the warning that "according to the Surgeon General, women should not drink alcoholic beverages during pregnancy because of the risk of birth defects." But the unofficial doctrine had been more relaxed. In fact, the Wine Spectator issue I referred to earlier dedicated nearly the entire Aug. 31, 1994, issue to this ongoing controversy. At that time, contributing editor Thomas Matthews wrote that "there is new research that shows that moderate drinking during pregnancy may actually help the development of the child after birth." I remember reading that and being pleased that I may actually have given my children the upper hand in school and in life.

However, today the belief is that there is no universal threshold of safe alcohol use during pregnancy. Honolulu obstetrician and gynecologist Dr. Peter McNally agrees. "You're only pregnant a short time so don't drink at all. In fact, if you're planning to become pregnant and you're in the first half of your menstrual cycle, don't go to a party and get sloshed. You may already be pregnant." Most birth defects happen during weeks five through 10, which is why passing on that glass of bubbly to celebrate your pregnancy is the best course, even if the wine is a coveted 1996 Salon.

It's been nearly three months since my last glass of wine, and while I miss being able to taste and talk wine with my buyers, co-workers and friends, I am determined to abstain, especially during the first trimester. Of course, my cravings for a glass of cold milk far outnumber my cravings for wine, which helps.

Having given up sushi around the same time as wine, I skipped the opening of Nobu Waikiki. Unfortunately I wasn't able to skip a portfolio tasting that included the famed Domaine Romanee Conti. With the nausea waning, that wasn't easy. I'll have to put that on my wish list for the upcoming holiday season, after our baby is born.

Lisa Gmur is a fine-wine specialist for Grand Crew Wine Merchants. Raise a Glass, written by a rotating group of beverage specialists, appears here every other week.