Hi OP, I'm a member of AA and have been for 10 years. I'm not sure how much I was drinking prior to that but maybe two bottles of wine a day. When I decided to stop, the first couple of days were fine and I thought that it was easier than I'd thought it would be. On the third day the hallucinations began and I ended up having a seizure at work.
Because I was sober, nobody (including me) connected it to my drinking. I was terrified and assumed that I was losing my mind. From talking to a LOT of serious alcoholics, this reaction is rare - I've met two people who have similar stories out of many hundreds, some of whom were in two litres of gin a day and were just able to quit with no ill effects.
When I read George Best's autobiography, I think in the first chapter he says that he never experienced the full DTs (delirium tremens) and I thought "blimey, I'm worse than George Best!"
I have relapsed in the 10 years a couple of times Md the same thing has happened. So my advice would be to go to your GP and explain. They should be able to give you diazepam for a few days, generally no more than five, which should prevent seizures.
You can also "taper off" as you say, generally by halving quantities each day for a week, but that can be very difficult to do.
Very good luck with whatever you decide.