I drank a fifth of vodka everyday for about a year, im sober now but my wife cannot get pregnant. was that enough to make me sterile, is it permanent?

Likely not: While alcohol is a negative factor for fertility, it is more of a problem during use. Now that you are off the drug, things should be ok. Often people and drs focus on what appears to be an obvious fertility factor when it could be something else. I would suggest seeking an evaluation for infertility from a reproductive endocrinologist. Glad you quit the alcohol. Good luck.

Difficult to say: As you know alcohol is a toxin. The amount of alcohol was significantly consumed. There still is a great possibility that your count can be normal now that you're sober. The easiest way of finding this out is by having a semen analysis with critical morphology performed.