While I don't use wine to induce sleep or relaxation, I do enjoy it with food. Not daily, but when it's a special meal I like a glass or two of wine with it.
I've heard that red wine in particular contains polyphenols etc that are good for you. But I don't really care. If you need a "reason to drink" then you shouldn't do it.
Where I live (S. Europe), wine is food and should be consumed as and with food.
If I want a tot of brandy after a meal, I will drink it. I'm an adult and take responsibility for my own decisions.

One of the main things that's supposed to be awesome in wine is resveratrol, and to have a significant amount, you'd have to drink a lot of wine. And apparently it's not clear if the research they've done on invertebrate animals applies to mammals :/

I always wonder about all these health claims of wine - what about grape juice, raisins, or fresh grapes? Does fermentation create these compounds, or is it just that these effects are advertised for only wine because of the funding/ it's "sexy"?

so funny, I was just thinking about this too!! I feel like the minimal benefits of wine - as others said - can be found in other places, and is minimal for the amount of wine you can drink before running into the downsides of toxins on your liver. So I definitely don't drink as much as I used to, and a lot of the time I have just as much fun if I have some other fun drink instead of wine. I'm really into coconut water lately, is that weird??

BUT - the social aspect is really important. coming together with friends, enjoying good conversation... unwinding after a hard day - those things are pretty valuable, although not in the scientific way of thinking. But you can see it in the Blue Zone way of thinking (the research done on some of the healthiest and longest-living cultures).

I don't know, but I figure there's no point in being healthy if you can't have a little fun, so if I feel like having a glass of wine then I go for it! I just don't overdo it ;) And sometimes I have more fun getting together with friends and not feeling hungover, so I try not to feel like I have to drink either.

ha ! the old wine is good for you urban myth perpetrated by (surprise surprise - wine marketing boards worldwide). if you want the health benefits of grapes eat grapes or organic not from concentrate grape juice. there are no studies (peer reviewed or in scholarly periodicals) that i have ever seen demonstrating wine as having superior or altered properties superior to the orginial. alcohol is toxic; but hey thats why we like it. wonder why all little kids like getting dizzy by spinning around or swings or merry go rounds once in a while? altered states: its a universal and existential phenomenological ethos. moderation is likely the key with any mood altering substances (alcohol, coffee, tea, chocolate, cocaine, heroin, magic mushrooms etc). well that's my 2 cents. :-)