Appears in
Oxford Companion to Wine

By Jancis Robinson

Published 2006

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hangover, one of wine’s least welcome effects, normally following some drunkenness or certainly excessive consumption. Drinking wine with or after food and drinking at least as much water as wine can lessen the likelihood of a hangover. Homeopathic prophylactics include milk thistle extract (silymarin) and nux vomica. There is no evidence that wine hangovers are different from those caused by any other form of alcohol, although inexpensive wine, non-organic wine, wine consumed with grain-based alcholic drinks, and bottle-aged port have all been accused of increasing the risk of hangover. The only indisputably effective control is moderation.