Hi Joe -
One of my favorite quotes about the "Am I an alcoholic?" question comes from the book Drinking: A Love Story by Caroline Knapp.
When you question your alcoholism, you say to yourself: If I am an alcoholic, I shouldn't drink and if I'm not an alcoholic, I don't need to. That's a nice piece of logic. You say: People who aren't alcoholics do not lie in bed at two-thirty in the morning wondering if they're alcoholics. A good reality check.
So, for me, I quit because I didn't like where alcohol was taking me. It wasn't adding anything to my life .... and then, when I tried to moderate, I couldn't. So, I quit.
Now in recovery, I realize how much I was truly missing. I never realized how much alcohol let me take the easy way out on so many parts of my life. Since I have been sober, I've had real personal growth (instead of just stagnation).
It doesn't matter about label - all that matters is whether you feel alcohol is affecting your life in a negative way. If it is, then logic says, you should abstain. If you have a hard time abstaining (as I did), then this tells you something too.