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This happened to a friend of mine when we were studying in Iceland together for a year, but the other way around. He was long-distance with his gf (who was in London), and 4-5 months of that he accidentally kissed someone else. We were all drunk in Greenland at the time (don't ask), and he ended up making out with this woman. He realized what he had done the next day, and was VERY remorseful, like your gf. He wrote his gf a long, apologetic letter, and she flew to see him as soon as she could, so they could talk it out in person (since it was the distance that was a catalyst for this behavior in the first place). They got through it, though it was very difficult for her to forgive him.
(Sidenote: They ended up being long-distance for a few years after that, and at the end they broke up because they just weren't in the same place in life, which meant that one was always abroad while the other was at home.)
Anyway, it sounds like she is really sorry about it, and from her history, it doesn't sound completely out-of-line. Old lifestyle habits are hard to break, especially when the one who helped her change is so far away and not there to keep her accountable. It's not a very nice thing to do... she ought to have laid off the alcohol, knowing her own behavior well enough without you there to remind her... but it sounds like she is still struggling with establishing her own integrity without you there to reinforce it. But it sounds like she is just plain human, like the rest of us. If she had slept with someone, that's another story... and yeah, a long make-out is worse than a peck on the cheek, but still. She didn't sleep with him.
Is this a first offense? If so, I'd forgive it, and honor her honesty. Keep an eye on how she deals with the distance in the coming year, though. I know that distance wreaked havoc on my ability to enjoy life when ktspktsp and I were apart for only 2.5 months... a year is really rough (which we may have to endure in the next couple of years, too). It needs a lot of flexibility and grace, which doesn't always come naturally.
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And think not you can direct the course of Love;
for Love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
--Khalil Gibran
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