Did you know that hotel minibars—which have been a prominent fixture in hotels since the mid 70s–are an endangered species? I hadn’t noticed, but then I recently came across this elegy for the minibar in the Atlantic magazine.

Apparently, big hotel chains such as Marriotts, Hiltons and Hyatts are phasing out refrigerated minibars. When I think of it, the last few hotels I’ve visited have had scaled down versions of the minibar, such as baskets of unrefrigerated snacks and bottles of water. So what about the booze?

The author of the Atlantic piece writes how “the minibar is an essential part of being alone, which is what hotels are about… a faithful sentry that had stayed up late and kept me company in times of danger and personal sorrow. It had never failed to deliver something—liquor, candy, clean T-shirts, fresh socks—that made me feel less alone.”

For me, the minibar has nothing to do with being alone, as I’ve mostly traveled with other people. Rather, the minibar equals a decadent part of being on vacation, where you don’t even have to leave your room to have a party.

On our honeymoon in Spain, my husband and I were thrilled to spend half the day in bed, partaking of the wine and champagne in the minibar. It was part of the laziness of being away, of being on vacation. You didn’t even have to bother to dial room service to have a drink or a snack. You barely had to move.

Maybe some people will be relieved when minibars are phased out. How must it feel to be a recovering alcoholic, knowing that the alcohol over which you’ve admitted being powerless is just a few steps away?

What do you think, readers: Do you love minibars, or dread them?

Beginning today and continuing through the month of March, the Parch campaign is setting the stage for people to turn their wine into water for people in Haiti. For those wanting to engage in the effort, the campaign is asking people to support the cause by cutting back, or abstaining from drinking alcohol (or bubbly drinks for kids), and donating the money that they would’ve spent on that bottle of wine or case of Pepsi to the Andrew Grene Foundation. The foundation’s mission is to use the money to supply fresh drinking water to the students at the Andrew Grene High School in Cite Soleil, Haiti, where 247 children–between the ages of 11 and 19–currently attend.

The Parch website explains the benefits of cutting back on drinking, as well as those for cutting back on fizzy drinks—basically your kids’ dentist will be happy not to mention the nutritionist in the family.

As for the finances, the Parch site says the average person spends 3,000 English pounds—equivalent to 4,548 US dollars attoday’s exchange—so by cutting back for a month, you’ll be saving about $380, some of which can provide drinking water for these students.

On the Parch website, click on the tab that says “Choices for Taking Part,” and you’ll be able to choose whether you’d like to be a “Parcher” on weekdays, weekends, both, or just be a donor or supporter.

Sounds like a very worthwhile cause.  Up for the challenge?

Who said monks weren’t crafty? In an effort to raise funds toward the renovation of their abbey, the Belgian monks at St. Sixtus Abbey chose the the 12th day of the 12th month of 2012 to offer devout American fans a delivery of Westvleteren 12, a beer that is brewed by the monks in small amounts and was exported for the first time.

According to an article on CNBC.com, the coveted Trappist Westvleteren 12–a dark beer that has been named the world’s best by beer aficionados–is typically sold exclusively at the abbey store and only after reserving a limited quantity of the beer through the “beer phone number.”

But last week, patient American customers were given a one-time chance to get their hands on six bottles of beer, each of which would set them back over $20. Just 15,000 packs of six bottles of Westvleteren 12, including two special tasting glasses, were sold in the United States at $85 each this week.

The monks live at the abbey in western Belgium’s countryside, and their days are focused entirely on prayer. They rise at 3:00 a.m. to start the first of seven prayer sessions and in between, they work in the kitchen and garden and perform tasks such as painting–and brewing. The monks have brewed the same amount of beer every year since 1945, said a piece on npr.org, which amounts to about 3,800 U.S. barrels, just the amount needed to sustain the abbey. Sales of the beer are tightly controlled.

One of the few people allowed inside the abbey, Mark Bode, the longtime spokesman for the Westvleteren Brewery, thinks this will be the first and last time the monks export their very popular nectar. ”They say, ‘We are monks, we don’t want to be too commercial. We needed some money to help us buy the new abbey and that’s it,’ ” Bode explains. “Back to normal again.”

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Some friends recently told me to go see “SOMM,” a feature documentary that follows four sommeliers as they get ready to take the Master Sommelier exam—a test with one of the lowest pass rates in the world. According to The New York Times, the exam is so difficult that fewer than 200 people have passed since 1969.

On our blog, we’ve interviewed Jennifer Simonetti-Bryan, the fourth woman and among only 30 people in the U.S. to ever attain the international title of Master of Wine (MW), one of the highest standards of knowledge in the wine industry.

So it seems that lately, winemaking and wine smarts are trending, and even the celebs are getting into the wine game. It’s been a long time that Frances Ford Coppola has been making wine in Napa, but here’s a list of some actors, musicians, and athletes that are not just drinking it, but are also involved in making and selling it.

• Drew Barrymore at Barrymore Wines in Italy
• Adrian Grenier in Paso Robles, California
• Ramona Singer in Italy
• Antonio Banderas at Anta Banderas in Spain
• Nancy Pelosi at Zinfandel Lane Vineyard in St. Helena, California
• Olivia Newton-John at Koala Blue Wines in South Australia
• Dave Matthews at Blenheim Vineyards in Virginia
• Madonna at Ciccone Vineyard in Michigan
• Wayne Gretzky at No. 99 Estates Winery in Canada
• Fergie at Ferguson Crest at Santa Ynez Valley, California
• Joe Montana at Montagia Wines in Napa, California
• Andrea Bocelli in Italy
• Kurt Russell in California
• Sting in Italy

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by Peggy Gennatiempo

“He’s missing!” exclaimed the caller.

“Missing?” I repeated. ” When did you last see him?”

“He went out with a group of students last night, but didn’t show up at class this morning.”

For the caller, the new director of a U.S. university program in Rome, a “no show” for an early morning course put her in a panic. As a Consular officer in the U.S. Embassy, however, such inquiries were routine for me and my staff.

I went through standard procedure with the caller, asking for the missing person’s name, birth date and physical description. I assured her we would check with local authorities and hospitals and then provide an update.

“Don’t worry,” I told her. “This is not unusual. These situations happen and your student will probably appear later today.“

“Do you think so? I’m responsible for a group of about thirty students,” she said.

When Americans go overseas to Italy, Spain, Greece and other countries where alcohol is available for minors under 21, they sometimes over indulge. I explained this to her and assured her that in most cases, the missing person would show up.

A few hours later, the university director called.

“You were right,” she said, “he came to class this afternoon, pale and tired. He said he partied hard then overslept. The result of a few drinks too many.”

I told her that a local police chief and I brief US college students attending programs in Rome with a Power Point presentation called “Staying Safe Overseas,” which focuses on safety issues including the dangers of alcohol and drug abuse. She agreed that would be helpful and we set a date for a presentation to her group.

During my 26-year career as a State Department Foreign Service officer assigned to U.S. Embassies and Consulates abroad, I learned to deal with consequences of intoxicated young Americans and adults as well. Most of the time, drinking at clubs resulted in hangovers and calls to the Consular Section for help with “missing” students.

But there were also serious accidents, and even deaths due to alcohol abuse.  After an evening out, a female student fell from a bridge over the Tiber River. Luckily, she landed on the embankment at the river’s edge and escaped with a concussion and broken bones–but was alive.  Not so lucky was a male student in Spain, whose body was discovered in a stream after a drinking binge with friends.

The stories were grim: young Americans plunged to their deaths from balconies in Spain and Mexico; empty bottles were later found in their rooms.  Inebriated college students trespassing on private property for a nighttime view of an Italian town were shot at by a man who thought they were would-be robbers lurking outside his home. One of them was killed.

Adults, too, crossed the line and paid with their lives for a drink too many. A casino winner on a cruise ship who drank one too many returned to his stateroom and decided to sit on the balcony handrail, only to tumble into the Aegean Sea at night. Another drowning death occurred when a woman opted for a jet ski ride after heavy drinking at lunch. The jet ski was found at sea and her body, on the shore of a nearby island.

For a Consular officer notifying the next of kin of the death of a loved one was an emotional challenge each time.  We worked with families and funeral homes on repatriation of remains, possessions and prepared the documentary report of death of a US citizen abroad. I often wondered if the strict drinking age requirement in the US is partially to blame. Why are some of our citizens under 21 so ill prepared to handle the freedom of consuming alcohol legally while studying or traveling abroad? Should our approach to alcohol be so restrictive?  Is there a way to make drinking not such a “forbidden fruit?”

Guiding, teaching and discussing alcohol–its effects on our bodies and judgment–is important. And so is enabling our youth to handle the choice of consumption in a rational way.  The sudden freedom to order a drink in Italy, Spain, Greece, Mexico led to tragedies I observed first hand. The youth of these nations generally did not have the issues ours do with drinking.  Perhaps because many are introduced to wine as teens during family meals.

I hope families and university authorities can better prepare students before semester abroad programs to ensure they return home safely with great memories and cultural experiences, rather than being repatriated in a casket or urn.

Peggy Gennatiempo worked in the U.S. Department of State from 1985 to 2011, serving as a foreign consular officer in Guadalajara, Washington DC, Rome, Mexico, Athens, Caracas and Madrid. Highlights included meeting Presidents Carter, Clinton, Bush 41 and Bush 43, and acting as an interpreter/control officer for Mrs. Barbara Bush.

She is very pleased that her daughter Liza, born in Seattle, experienced living overseas in Mexico and Italy, and visited her at all her other posts from the time she began college.  

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As part of our mission to share stories about women’s relationship with alcohol, we were invited to the studio at Yahoo, for an interview on “The Shine” with host Allison Task. It proved a great forum to discuss our thoughts on the Drinking Diaries book and some of the takeaway message for readers. If you have a few minutes to watch, here’s the interview:

On Sunday evening, Drinking Diaries co-editors, Caren and Leah, headed to Brooklyn for a reading at Cobble Hill’s premiere independent bookstore, BookCourt– just voted “Best Bookstore 2012″ by the Village Voice.

Joined by local writers, Helene Stapinski, Elissa Schappell and Lianne Stokes, the reading provided the crowd with a taste of the diversity that makes up the book’s collection.

From Helene’s take on her quest to Italy to see if the name behind Amaro Lucano liqueur–which she served to anyone willing to try it–is connected to her family ancestry, to Elissa’s tale of her husband’s decision to stop drinking after years of imbibing as a couple (and which was featured in The New York Times “Modern Love” column), to Lianne’s piece about using booze to cope during a friend’s baby shower, the essays initiated some great post-reading questions and conversation.

To quote the Daily News.com: “The Drinking Diaries event at BookCourt will be saturated in stories by celebrated women writers — tales of late-night adventures, dates, ladies’ night and wild college parties, all involving a few too many drinks. This reading, led by editors Leah Odze Epstein and Caren Osten Gerszberg, will be sure to send you on a page-turning binge.”

Enough said.

Thanks to everyone who came out, and stay tuned for more Drinking Diaries events.

In the last 10 days, I’ve encountered three new beverages. That isn’t something that happens very often, let alone in such a short span of time. And with each new encounter, I was struck by something–the packaging, punch or flavor–in Boxed Water is Better, the Negroni and Apfelschorle.

I’m not one for purchasing bottles of water, but when you’re at a concert and they don’t let you enter with your own H2O supply, you’re at the mercy of the venue’s bar–particularly now that water fountains are practically obsolete. When I laid down the necessary cash at the Capitol theater during a recent Regina Spektor show, the bartender presented me not a bottle–but a white box resembling a milk carton–of water. The bold black letters announced: “Boxed Water is Better.” After a bit of research, I discovered that the Michigan-based company, Boxed Water is Better, uses carbon-filtered, purified drinking water from the municipal source at each of their fillers. The water tasted pretty good once I got past the notion of cardboard packaging, which notes the various reasons it’s beneficial for the environment:

• The box container is far more sustainable than plastic bottled water, with 76% of the box coming from trees from certified, well-managed forests.

• The boxes are recyclable.

• They ship their boxes flat to the filler which is significantly more efficient compared to shipping empty plastic or glass bottles to 
be filled.

• 10% of the profit is donated to world water relief foundations.

• They donate yet another 10% of their profit to reforestation foundations.

According to Wikipedia, the Negroni is widely reported to have been invented in Florence, Italy, in 1919. The story goes that Count Camillo Negroni invented it by asking a bartender to strengthen his favorite cocktail, the Americano, by adding gin rather than the normal soda water. After the success of the cocktail, the Negroni Family founded Negroni Distillerie in Treviso, Italy, and produced a ready-made version of the drink, sold as Antico Negroni. One of the earliest reports of the drink came from Orson Welles in 1947, when he was working on “Black Magic” in Rome, where he described a new drink called the Negroni. “The bitters are excellent for your liver, the gin is bad for you. They balance each other,” he told the Coshocton Tribune.

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With no plans to return anytime soon, I can only wonder if a cold beer would’ve helped me tolerate the 90-degree heat and long, snaking lines at Disney’s Magic Kingdom on my two visits there when my kids were young. I happily stuck it out with lemonade, but understand that a bit of change in the world of Mickey and Minnie could add some potential interest–for parents, that is.

After 41 years with a no-alcohol policy, the Magic Kingdom is about to get more magical. In response to popular demand, the Disney Park will soon introduce beer and wine at one location only–Be Our Guest, the new “Beauty and the Beast” themed restaurant, due to open in the park this November.

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It’s been over three years since we started this blog, and we are so grateful to all of you who have shared your stories and read those we’ve posted. As you probably know by now, Drinking Diaries: Women Serve Their Stories Straight Up (Seal Press), a collection of 28 original essays, has hit the bookshelves.

While drinking is the thread that ties these stories together, the anthology covers a spectrum of themes–with voices that vary in perspective, age, culture and experience. There is truly something for everyone here, and we hope you will enjoy it.

Below are some photos from our book launch event at the Strand Bookstore in New York City on September 5, and our second event, a reading sponsored by the Golden Notebook in Woodstock, NY on September 9th. There are readings being scheduled at BookCourt in Brooklyn, NY on October 21st at 7 pm, and at Magers and Quinn Bookstore in Minneapolis on Wednesday, November 7.

The crowd at the Strand

Ann Leary (l) and Joyce Maynard (r) during the Q & A

front (l to r): Ann Leary, Joyce Maynard, Daphne Merkin; back: Laura Jofre, Emma Kate Tsai, Caren Osten Gerszberg, Sari Botton, Helen Stapinski, Leah Odze Epstein, Eva Tenuto

Liza Monroy reads at the Golden Notebook event

From l to r, authors Liza Monroy, Eva Tenuto, Sari Botton and Amy Ferris sign books. (*photo by B. Greenwald)

Drinking Diaries authors and editors after Woodstock reading

In celebration of our just published book, Drinking Diaries: Women Serve Their Stories Straight Up, we have put together a book trailer video to give you some insight into the stories that make up the anthology and how the project was conceived. In three short minutes, you will hear some voices revealing bits of the book’s 28 essays. We hope it will inspire you to read all of the stories, and perhaps to share your own.

–Caren and Leah

Drinking Diaries Book Trailer

As the publication of our book of essays, Drinking Diaries: Women Serve Their Stories Straight Up draws near–just days away, actually–we are thrilled to share the news about reviews, mentions and excerpts and hope you will share with others as well. And of course, we’d be thrilled if you ordered your own copy (great as gifts too)!

The anthology is a compilation of original essays, written by women of varying age, background, culture and perspective. ELLE magazine featured the Drinking Diaries book in their September issue, calling it “a collection of 28 essays exploring what it means to imbibe, be it casually or problematically. From ELLE contributor Daphne Merkin on how good Jewish girls drink (pass the Manischewitz!) to Elissa Schappell on the early, joyful, and booze-soaked days of her marriage and the shift that occurred when her husband decided to get sober, there are lessons in these sloppy, sad, ridiculous, dangerous, and celebratory experiences.”

And in yesterday’s New York Times, Ellissa Schappell’s Drinking Diaries essay was excerpted for the popular  ”Modern Love” column. It begins:

When I picture my favorite moments with my husband over our 23 years together, someone is always holding a glass, or a bottle of wine, or a plastic cup — well, except for the last 11 years, since Rob stopped drinking.

I can plot the timeline of our relationship by what we were drinking.

First, the bloody mary in a can I had bought for us to share on the Amtrak train, where we had just met. The cold Rolling Rock beers we drank the next night on our first date at a bar on the Lower East Side called Downtown Beirut. The glasses of Pernod on the rocks we sipped while listening to the Velvet Underground, after I had moved in with him (and his three actor roommates) on Staten Island. The coveted 100-year-old Armagnac my father — clearly drunk with happiness that his daughter had finally brought home a man he approved of — decided to break out and share with Rob.

To read the full essay in the Times, click here.

And thanks to all of you for supporting our blog and book!

~Caren & Leah

It’s true–after three years of building our blog and compiling an amazing and varied archive of stories, we are so happy to announce that our book, Drinking Diaries: Women Serve Their Stories Straight Up, will be published this September by Seal Press.

We are so grateful for your readership and support, and hope you will continue to visit the blog and of course, spring for the book which is available now for pre-order on Amazon, Indiebound and B&N.com.

Our journey from blog to book has been both emotional and thrilling–and worth every minute. We’ve been working on this project together, since June 2008, and are proud to have created a blog covering anything and everything related to women and drinking. From celebration to revelation we like to say. A place where there is no judgment, where the stories we and other women share range from comical and celebratory to sexy and despairing. Where we offer news, profiles, research and opinions—all about women and their relationship with alcohol.

Drinking Diaries was conceived, sadly, as a result of Caren’s mother’s drinking. Well into her sixties, Caren’s mother’s wine habit went from socially acceptable and culturally expected (she’s French) to deeply problematic. A child survivor of the Holocaust, her mother began using alcohol to numb her pain. Caren watched in fear and bewilderment as her mother’s dependence on alcohol accelerated with warp speed.

Caren (l) and Leah (r)

Leah, also the child of an alcoholic, whose mother has been sober for over 35 years, was the person Caren turned to. Together on Leah’s front porch, Caren would lament about her mother’s drinking. Then, over a Friday night dinner with our husbands, we decided that there was no place for women to share their stories—the sad, happy and everything in between—of drinking and the effect it has on their life. We would provide that place.

In an effort to discover who the readers—of the future book we hoped to publish—would be, we started the Drinking Diaries blog. We queried women authors to do Q&A interviews, and let out shrieks of jubilation when we got a “yes” from accomplished writers like Joyce Maynard, Jackie Mitchard and Julie Powell. They all had tales to contribute. We went to blogging conferences and writing workshops, asking women along the way to share their stories. Sex and drinking. Parenting and drinking. Work and drinking. Family and drinking. Culture and drinking. Health and drinking. Nearly three years later, it’s all here.

Somewhere along the way, we were deemed “experts” on the subject of women and drinking. We’ve been interviewed for radio shows and TV-news programs, and featured on various blogs. Recently, Caren wrote an article, “The Art of Mindful Drinking,” and did a related podcast for a national magazine.

Both mothers of three children each, we start our twice-weekly work sessions with a catch-up walk through a beautiful Long Island Sound-lined park before returning to our office—Caren’s kitchen. Over mugs of tea and handfuls of almonds, we bicker like an old married couple over grammar, Leah’s blackberry addiction, and Caren’s roving attention toward shopping websites. Some stories make us laugh hysterically like two teenage girls. Others hit very close to home. And when we “score” an interview or get a response from a high-profile person we never expected to get, we high-five like football players.

When we’re not working together on the forthcoming anthology, we are working independently from home on new posts for the blog, which we update every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. We touch base via email and phone several times a day, basking in glory on a day when the blog has a high number of hits, and sharing frustration when a writer fails to turn in a piece that she swore was coming yesterday.

This journey has grown from seed on Leah’s porch, to stalk with our blog, to blossoming flower this Fall, when the book hits the shelves—both virtual and in bookstores. Our partnership is a labor of love more than a business venture. The stories are there. We are just asking women to scratch the surface and let them out.

The news is good for those of us who enjoy a glass of wine, beer or a mixed drink a day. A new study of more than 80,000 women revealed that low to moderate alcohol consumption is associated with a 17% to 21% reduction in risk of stroke.

The new findings were published last week in Stroke, the online journal of the American Heart Association. For the study, researchers looked at data on nearly 84,000 women who were part of the Nurse’s Healthy Study, in which they had to provide information on their daily diets, lifestyle habits, and how much they drank. All of the women had no evidence of cancer and heart disease when the study started, and were enrolled in the study for 26 years.

Scientists have been questioning how alcohol affects the risk of stroke, given that moderate drinking appears to lower the risk of heart disease. It probably does that by boosting the production of HDL, the good cholesterol, and reducing the risk of blood clots.

During the study, scientists found 2,171 incidents of strokes, including ischemic strokes (when blood flow to the brain is obstructed), hemorrhagic strokes (where a brain blood vessel bursts), and strokes of unknown origin. They also found almost 30 percent of women reported that they never drank alcohol, 35 percent reported drank very little, 37 percent drank moderately, and only 11 percent of women reported drinking more than the equivalent of one mixed drink per day on average.

Women who drank low to moderate amounts of alcohol–from less than 1/2 a glass of wine per day to 1.5 glasses of wine, one serving of a mixed drink, or one beer –had a lower stroke risk than women who never drank. But heavy drinkers were no less likely to suffer a stroke.

Because there were so few heavy drinkers, this study doesn’t give a reliable picture of risk for women who drink heavily. But earlier studies have found that heavier drinking is linked to more strokes.

“At higher levels, [alcohol] can increase blood pressure,” Monik Jimenez, the epidemiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital who led the study told NPR. Drinking a lot also can increase the risk of an irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation, which boosts the risk of stroke.

These results, while positive, are not an invitation to park yourself at the bar. In fact, Jimenez says, women who don’t drink can feel perfectly comfortable with that choice, because their risk of stroke is still relatively low. “We certainly don’t want to advocate initiation of alcohol consumption for those who are non-drinkers.”

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I’ve spent many an afternoon driving through the countryside of France–my mother’s homeland–in a small, Peugeot rental car. Together, my mom and I have pulled over alongside a field of sunflowers or a stretch of sandy beach to lay out a picnic where we’d eat and sip the locally made wine. On my next trip, however, I’ll not only think twice about taking the wheel after a picnic, but I’ll also be blowing into a Breathalyzer to be certain my blood alcohol level is within the legal limit.

Beginning July 1, a new law in France will require all motor vehicles (except mopeds) to have a breathalyzer on hand. (The new rule can be found in French at Legifrance.)  It seems unexpected that a country like France, known for its love of le vin, would spearhead this campaign against drinking and driving, but perhaps not surprisingly, nearly 30 percent of all road fatalities in France are alcohol-related—a higher rate than in Germany and the UK. In fact, alcohol has been the leading cause of road deaths in France since 2007.

To bring these numbers down and save lives (and there is an election coming), French President Sarkozy has chosen to target drunk driving. According to numerous reports, French authorities will accept a one-time disposable type that costs less than two dollars. They are recommending, however, that motorists buy them in pairs so there’s an additional one in case a fellow-imbibing passenger is in need.

The French police will begin strictly enforcing the new law as of November 1, with many spot checks on roads. The idea is that every time a driver (native or tourist) gets into their car after having a drink, they will have a device with which to test if there blood alcohol content (BAC) is over the mandated blood alcohol limit for drinking in France, .05 BAC. That is a much stricter limit than the U.S. limits of .08 in 17 states and 0.10 in 33 states, according to a US government survey.

Because the drunk driving penalty in France is much higher than the “no breathalyzer” fine, the hope is that drivers will eventually begin to self-test before driving. They may risk not having the breathalyzer on hand if they are stopped, but at least they’ll know if they are under the legal limit and the fine will be less.

It’s possible that this new law may pose some linguistic challenges for non French-speaking tourists who wish to cruise around the countryside. A piece in Budget Travel magazine reports that Hertz rental cars will provide the breathalyzers for free; Avis and Budget had no comment yet on the situation.

France is the first country to enact a breathalyzer on-hand legislation, and I imagine the rest of the world will be watching to see how it affects the road toll. If the new legislation saves lives, the law might be something to consider on this side of the Atlantic. Vive la France…?

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