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Tasters enjoy discovering wines at one of Decanter's tasting events in central London.
(Image credit: Cath Lowe / Decanter)

Married couples get on with each other better and for longer when both partners enjoy a drink, suggests a new study.

Sharing a good bottle of wine over dinner is already one of the events to treasure in life, but now there is evidence that it can help your relationship.

Researchers focused on heterosexual couples in the US and measured responses by 2,767 married couples as part of a long-term health survey.

Marriages had already lasted for 33 years on average, with approximately two thirds in their first marriage.

If both partners drank alcohol, the couples tended to report a happier marriage over time.

Women, in particular, were least happy in a marriage where they didn’t drink but their husband did.

If both partners were tee-total, this was also better than having one partner drinking and one not, the study found.

‘The present findings stress the importance of considering the drinking status rather than the amount of alcohol consumed of both members of the couple when attempting to understand drinking and marital quality among older couples,’ said researchers.

Kira Birditt PhD, on the life course development programme at the University of Michigan’s institute for social research, led the study.

She told Reuters that the team wasn’t sure why alcohol had an effect, but it might feed into the theory that couples who do more together tend to be happier.

Responsible drinking campaigns in the UK have targeted middle-aged wine lovers in recent years, amid concerns that some people are potentially consuming too much at home.

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Chris Mercer
Chris Mercer

Chris Mercer is a Bristol-based freelance editor and journalist who spent nearly four years as digital editor of Decanter.com, having previously been Decanter’s news editor across online and print.

He has written about, and reported on, the wine and food sectors for more than 10 years for both consumer and trade media.

Chris first became interested in the wine world while living in Languedoc-Roussillon after completing a journalism Masters in the UK. These days, his love of wine commonly tests his budgeting skills.

Beyond wine, Chris also has an MSc in food policy and has a particular interest in sustainability issues. He has also been a food judge at the UK’s Great Taste Awards.