The drinking isn’t really the issue.
It’s what’s underneath it.
This week, I sat down with Caroline Woolley, a menopause expert, to talk about something that’s rarely said out loud—but sits beneath so many of the conversations I have with women.
The Wine O’Clock cycle starts quietly.
A glass to take the edge off.
A second while cooking dinner.
A sense that it’s the only part of the day that’s yours.
But it’s not just a personal habit.
It’s cultural.
We’ve been sold a story that wine is self-care.
That it’s how you relax, reward yourself, switch off.
Especially in midlife—when everything is shifting.
Hormones. Identity. Roles. Relationships.
Children grow up.
Work changes.
And with that comes a kind of grief—unspoken, disorienting, and laced with the quiet feeling that you’ve somehow lost your footing.
In that space, wine becomes the thing you reach for.
Not because you’re out of control.
But because it’s the one thing that still feels like comfort.
In Episode 10 of The Wine O’Clock Woman podcast, Caroline and I ask:
Why do so many women start drinking more in perimenopause?
What alcohol is really doing to our hormones and mood?
And what this season of life might be trying to teach us?
Search “The Wine O’Clock Woman – Episode 10: Menopause and Midlife Drinking” on your favourite podcast platform.
It’s not about alcohol.
It’s about how we’ve been taught to cope.
And what becomes possible when we stop outsourcing self-care to a bottle.