That's the crux of the situation, though; on hard liquor, the slippery road to becoming a non-functional alcoholic is much steeper.
There also might be a gender difference. In my experience, men who drink wine, mostly drink with friends and self-limit. The sort of men who are prone to alcoholism won't be satisfied by mere wine and will proceed to hard drinks quick. On the other hand, women often drink wine alone and might develop a daily habit that degrades into full-blown alcoholism even without resorting to hard drinks.
FYI, I barely drink at all and I dislike sloshed people (incl. myself when I rarely get intoxicated; it is an unpleasant state to be in). But even hell has layers.
I might also be biased. My dad was a "high-functioning alcoholic" who primarily drank beer. I also suppose that my definition of high-functioning might be a bit different as I think it's just as dangerous as non-functional alcoholism because it's easy to hide. My dad hid his problem well, it was only when he almost killed himself by driving off a cliff into a lake while he was shitfaced drunk that he decided to sober up. If he wasn't as good as hiding it he might've been pressured into stopping before he did as much damage to himself and those around him
That's the crux of the situation, though; on hard liquor, the slippery road to becoming a non-functional alcoholic is much steeper.
There also might be a gender difference. In my experience, men who drink wine, mostly drink with friends and self-limit. The sort of men who are prone to alcoholism won't be satisfied by mere wine and will proceed to hard drinks quick. On the other hand, women often drink wine alone and might develop a daily habit that degrades into full-blown alcoholism even without resorting to hard drinks.
FYI, I barely drink at all and I dislike sloshed people (incl. myself when I rarely get intoxicated; it is an unpleasant state to be in). But even hell has layers.