I can only share my experience.
I married a woman older than myself, much like your spouse. We drank while dating. I never saw an issue. I don't have an alcohol problem. However, I started to see the signs within a few months after we married. And so I started "working" on it. Trying to reason with her, asking nicely, fretting about. Probably sounds familiar. She didn't have a drinking problem I was told. The problem was with me. Ok, maybe she's right. Maybe I'm just being too controlling, I thought. No. Actually I never thought that. I was "told" that by a manipulative alcoholic. They are good at creating self doubt in us. Have you noticed?
Oh, her drinking wasn't "bad". But it really was. What it wasn't was "terrible". But she drank too much, acted badly, drank too often, acted badly, didn't drink for a day, and acted badly. Generally speaking, she acted badly. Certainly there was passion, and certainly I fell in love with this woman. And in the end she gave me the 2 most wonderful gifts in the world.
As I was "working" on my exit strategy she became pregnant with our first child and I decided to stay. I now had a commitment to this baby. So I just tried to deal with it.
20+ years later I can tell you I should have left her 2 months into the marriage. I was sold a bill of goods. I'd like a refund, please.
20 years later and she's spent a nice retirement on alcohol. We have no money in savings, our kids are effected by her drinking which only got worse. It worsened every year. Year after year. Just recently it was up to 15 bottles of wine a week. But she still didn't think it was a problem. Nope. The problem is all ME.
If I knew back then the emotional and financial cost of staying married to an alcoholic was going to be so high, I would have run away. FAST.
So, take a good long look at what you are doing. You have a small window right now to effect a change. That change can be 100% you (leave) or 100% him (get well). One of those options has a 100% success rate. The other about 1%. But it is not going to get better on it's own. That is for certain.