Joe was wondering:
In my experimentation I had a few glasses of wine and, subsequently, got pretty sleepy afterward. I was wondering what it is about wine that makes it different from other alcohol in that, more often than not, it makes you tired?
lioness after a glass of red wine
This question, in some ways, stands for everything that wine represents. WINE EFFECTS EVERYONE DIFFERENTLY. It makes a lot people tired, but many people also feel invigorated, those like me for instance. Some people will rate a wine 95pts and someone else will rate it 75pts. Cherries and flowers for one person and plums and leather for another. Drinking a glass of wine, be it cheap jug wine or high end stuff, sparks something up inside. It is a personal experience for your mind, palate, and body.
But that is probably not the answer you are looking for, right? Well to answer your question bluntly, the bottom line is that alcohol is a depressant. Ethanol, the principal alcohol in wine, inhibits the activity of the central nervous system pure and simple. This in turn, makes you feel “down” and sleepy.
Here is another possible answer and topic that needs addressing. Sulfites. (sooner rather than later I will demystify this chemical additive) Sulfites take a lot of blame these days. Headaches, allergic reactions, hangovers, and sleepiness have all been attributed to sulfites. This chemical is added to the must to sometimes stop fermentation, used a preservative, and also helps to stop oxidation. Sulfites also occur naturally in wine. Wine is one of the only alcohols to contain this chemical, so this could be why people get more sleepy from wine than any other alcohol. But like I said before, everyone is different.
There has also been some research done by Italian scientists that tested 8 varieties of grapes for melatonin. Melatonin is a sleep hormone that is secreted by the pineal gland in your brain. They found large levels of this hormone, or what seemed to be melatonin in the skins of the grapes. Nebbiolo, Merlot,Cabernet Sauvignon, and Sangiovese scored the highest. However, there is skepticism from other scientist in that the compound found may not actually be melatonin. So who really knows.
If you find yourself getting tired because of wine, try to eat something before you drink as to slow the absorption of alcohol into your system.
The Ride Inside 