The emergence of Uber is great news in this realm. Like most regulatory and licensing schemes that purport to be about protecting the consumer, taxicab regulation was always about limiting competition/supply and thereby driving up prices to consumer and profits to the taxi companies. I used to argue that point and get laughed at, with people saying that if it weren’t for the taxi licensing scheme, the consumer would get ripped off left and right.
It’s abundantly clear now that you can have, and always could have had, far better service for far less money if only the government was out of the way. Or at least they’re out of the way for now. Anyway, it’s a positive development for those of us who love wine, or just anyone who enjoys wine, beer or spirits as part of their social life but doesn’t want to end up having to stay home and not be with friends in order to drink.
For me, it’s not so much an issue of Port at the end of the meal, but rather total consumption of alcohol throughout the evening. It’s always possible to go into a tasting or dinner with the idea of moderation, but then you’re two hours into it and you realize that you’ve consumed more than you planned to…Can you monitor your alcohol intake throughout the evening and self-limit as needed, or is it too tempting to have what everyone else is having because you don’t want to stop or feel left out?
Bruce
Here in Scottsdale, they do random rolling roadblocks that stop all cars looking for impaired drivers. Couple that with Arizona’s law that someone blowing less than the legal limit can still be found to be impaired if the officer makes that determination, and I never drive when going out to dinner. We Uber everywhere, or go to our club, which is within our guard gate and thus avoids roads. It is not worth the risk to myself, my family, or anyone who has the misfortune to find themselves in my way at the wrong time.
It seems like 4-6 times a year my larger group of friends get together for a wine/champagne bash. Taxi’s/ hotels are the only option for most. My expenditures for hotels and driving services almost equal my wine expenditures. Plus, I have a sleeping bag, extra set of clothes and a toothbrush in the trunk for plan B (though Mother Nature has proven the need for that also).
Luckily, my number one wine friend lives in close walking distance. Drunk Driving is not an option.