I had the same issue with defining my problems. I ended up asking myself three questions: 1- do you drink too much when you drink? 2 - does it cause problems? 3 - can you stop?
If the first two answers are yes, and the third is a no then you have a drink problem, wether you are labelled as an alcoholic is irrelevent. I find the term 'alcoholic' to be too loaded to be helpful; I spent years screwing my life up with booze, and saying 'I dont have a bottle of Jim with my cornflakes in the morning so I can't be an alcoholic...'. Most of my family and friends also used that sort of thinking to stop me getting straight.