Does alcohol raise or lower one's blood pressure?

Alcohol: Alcohol is a well known vasodilator which in turn will lower your blood pressure in the short term but the chronic use of alcohol will lead to high blood pressure in the long term, so if you have high blood pressure it is best to avoid heavy alcohol use. An exception my be the use of one glass of red wine with dinner whic may lead to cardiovascular benefits if your blood pressure is not an issue.