Chinzano Dreams

I remember my first time I encountered alcohol. I must have been 7 and my mum wouldn't get out of bed until 11 and my brother and I would make dens in the lounge by pushing a chair forward so we could hide underneath it. Anyway the drinks cabinet was always a bit of a fascination. My mother didn't and still doesn't drink very much at all however at that time she seemed to have this wide range of enticing bottles that any 7 year old would find irresistible.

I think my very first drink was Chinzano, not one I would ever revisit despite my intense thirst that came to the fore from the early 90s onwards. I don't think I actually got drunk and I recall merely 'wetting my lips' with the drink and then pretending to be drunk with my brother.

We would do this every weekend morning before my mum would get up and during that time our dens became increasingly spacious and complex as an increasing variety of furniture and soft furnishings became Incorporated into the overall structure!

My grandfather died from bowel cancer when I was about 8 and this was the first time I ever met aunt, Rosalind. This is relevant for a number of reasons. My aunt was an alcoholic, I use the past tense as it killed her when she was around 45. Unfortunately she made a couple of fundamental errors for a alcoholic, one she married an alcoholic and and then she moved to Spain to run a bar! I didn't know her so didn't grieve for her when she passed away, what though is relevant is whether you believe that alcoholism is a balance between genetics and environment. I certainly don't prescribe to the idea that just because you have a potential genetic link that you will become a lush I do however think it helps you develop a thirst if environmentally you are placed in a position where you need an escape. Thats certainly what I believe happened to me.