The relationships between alcoholic beverages and cardiovascular risk factors were assessed in 6730 men living in France or Northern Ireland. In France, all alcoholic beverages were significantly correlated with body mass index (BMI), systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), high density lipoprotein (HDL) parameters, PAI-1 and Factor VII, whereas only wine was negatively related with fibrinogen levels. After adjusting for center, age, BMI, educational level, smoking and marital status, wine had a lesser effect on blood pressure, triglyceride, apo B and LpE:B levels than beer. Wine was associated with lower fibrinogen levels and beer with higher PAI-1 activity levels independent of the amount of alcohol consumed. In Northern Ireland, wine was negatively correlated with BMI, triglycerides, LpE:B and fibrinogen, whereas beer was positively correlated with SBP and DBP, triglycerides, HDL, apoprotein A-I and fibrinogen. Multivariate analysis showed wine to be positively associated with HDL parameters, and negatively with fibrinogen levels. Wine was also associated with higher LpA-I levels and lower fibrinogen levels independent of the amount of alcohol consumed. We conclude that alcohol consumption is related to lipid, lipoprotein and haemostatic variables, but the magnitude of the relationships depends on the type of alcoholic beverage. Also, some effects might be related to non-alcoholic components.