In a concerted effort to restore my liver, and more honestly, to lower my tolerance, I tried to take last week off drinking.  I say tried because I obviously failed.  But let me tell you why.

So it’s not that my tolerance is so great that I can smash 4 bottles of wine and not get drunk.  It’s that I can smash 4 bottles of wine and not be able to tell I was drunk until the next morning when my head is throbbing and I cannot remember exactly how I got home the night before.   I should qualify this as a statement of hyperbole; I very rarely consume 4 bottles of wine by myself.  Very very rarely indeed.

I was going strong Monday and Tuesday, and even successfully turned down several drinks invitations.  But then Wednesday I came back to the office from a meeting to this:

A stunning 2006 Pommard Rugiens 1er cru from Michel Gaunoux.  I had been anxious to try Gaunoux’s wines since an offer I wrote a while back exploded.  The amount of sales generated from this offer seriously shocked me as I had never heard this guy’s name even mentioned before.  Since, I have been assured that he is well regarded indeed.

The 2006: super aromatic & pretty.  Filled with violets, violet candy in fact, bright & ripe, dried violets with wisps of sous bois mixed with a medley of fruit.  On the palate it was ultra concentrated and packed with fruit.  Intense flavors.  Fine tannins.  Fresh acidity.  This was absolutely stunning, elegant, and a total bargain at $690.  In summary “flower candy with fine dusty tannins.”

So I only had a sip and decided that a work tasting didn’t have to derail my progress knowing full well that it wasn’t the tasting that would throw me off track; it was One Direction that would.

Yes, I am 30, and yes, I did voluntarily go to One Direction.  You’re welcome, Sarah.

  It had been a whirlwind to get out of the office by 6:15 and then make my way over through the throngs of people in Central to Airport Express, so by the time I did, I was ready for a glass.  We picked up a really great value (<$200) Chardonnay from Argentina and enjoyed it on the ride over.

I had never been to Asia World Expo before and had heard it wasn’t a great venue, but man, it’s abhorrent as a venue.  We were so far way, with tons of empty space between us and the stage, that you couldn’t really even see the singers.  Instead of showing the concert on the jumbotrons, 1d? their handlers? AWE? or just a poor production crew decided to show out of date anime type cartoons of the band on screen.  I know I’m not exactly your target audience, but come on.

I guess my biggest take away is that these guys are singers, not performers.  Their music is entertaining enough when I run, but I certainly don’t ever, ever need to shell out (wait for it- this is super embarrassing) $1,000 to go see that mess again.

Over the course of 2 or so hours we were there, we each had 2 beers, something I never do, but hey, it was Wednesday!  That didn’t take long to rationalize…

Sure I went to bed a little later than usual, but wow was I struggling the next day.  I don’t know if it was the beer, the lack of water, or perhaps the insane amount of pollution last week, but I feel like a complete disaster all day Thursday.  Not a typical hangover, this was far deeper in my head, very cloudy but also painful, and seemingly nothing would help it go away.  Until, of course, that first (and only) happy hour glass.

The big lesson here is clearly that taking days off is not only unnecessary, but also dangerous to health.   Lesson learned.