Dry January vs French January: how France’s wine culture is adapting to drinking less

Back in 2021, I wrote an article about the concept of Dry January to act as a circuit-breaker for those who feel their alcohol consumption was too much over the festive season or as a New Year’s resolution to break bad habits. 

Dry January was launched in the UK by Alcohol Concern in 2013 and by 2018 an estimated three million British people were taking part. Studies have shown that participants showed improved wellbeing and reduced alcohol consumption six months later. Around two-thirds reported feeling healthier, sleeping more soundly, having better concentration, losing weight and improving blood pressure.

Dry January has now become a thing in France. General alcohol consumption has fallen, especially among young people. Wine consumption in particular has fallen dramatically in the last five years and has led to a crisis in the French wine industry. 

Concerned that increased abstinence will damage the industry permanently and threaten the French way of life, an organisation called Vin & Société, which promotes sensible, sociable and moderate consumption of wine, has launched an alternative – French January. 

The idea is to reduce consumption but not to give up wine altogether. To drink less but to drink better and to avoid drinking systematically. Choose bottles to share with friends, to accompany a nice meal or to celebrate an occasion. 

Wine is seen as a key part of the French art de vivre. The lifestyle admired and sought by many foreigners, where food and wine are enjoyed for their flavours, not just to fulfil cravings. Where friends and family gather to share moments around the table with carefully chosen bottles of wine and lovingly prepared food. 

L’art de vivre

I often see comments on expat social media groups about the affordability of wine and the joys of having a glass with every meal, lunch included. In my experience, those who drink a glass (or more) with every meal tend to drink very cheap wine, usually from a bag-in-box. That’s not really l’art de vivre. 

I don’t think every meal warrants a glass of wine, nor should every mealtime be an opportunity to drink. I very rarely drink wine at lunchtime, even if I’m eating out. I don’t really enjoy the effect of the alcohol in the afternoon. I also wouldn’t think of having wine with a burger, a sandwich or a bowl of soup. 

On the other hand, I do enjoy choosing a wine to go with our evening meals. My wife is a good cook and we buy nice ingredients. Even though I have almost limitless quantities of my own estate wine, I often choose wines from other producers and other regions that I think will suit the meal. I particularly enjoy choosing special bottles from my cellar when we have friends round or are invited to dinner. This is l'art de vivre. 

France has a huge diversity of wine styles and benefits from low levels of duty. That means that most people can enjoy pretty good bottles from many different regions without checking their bank balance. Sure, we can’t afford to drink cru classé Bordeaux or Burgundy every week but there are lots of reasonably priced alternatives. 

I don’t buy the argument that most people can’t afford to drink nice wine in France. They are either consuming too much or spending their money on other things that they like. 

Moderation requires will-power and restraint. It’s too easy to refill the glass, especially if the wine is tasty and easy-drinking. There are some things we can do to limit our consumption and increase our enjoyment. 

1. Always have a glass or bottle of water at the table. Quench your thirst with it, not the wine. 
2. Pour small measures into your glass. Never more than a third full. Much less if you have huge glasses.
3. Choose wines for the meals you have planned or to lay down for a few years. Don’t buy them for daily consumption like milk or fruit-juice. 
4. Avoid bag-in-boxes unless you are having a party. 
5. It’s not necessary to finish the bottle. White wine lasts a week in the fridge and red wine about three days if you re-cork. 

Finally, don’t always choose smooth, easy-drinking wines. You will be tempted to drink them more quickly. Choosing more characterful or even challenging wines means that you will savour them more and want to drink them with food rather than on their own. Higher acid whites like those of the Loire valley are not as easy to glug down as varietally-labelled whites from the Languedoc. Lighter-bodied red wines with finesse, such as Burgundy, encourage more sniffing and sipping than soft, round reds. Tannic reds require food and are not so easy to quaff. 

Buying wine at a caviste, a wine fair or direct from a producer will give you a lot more opportunity to choose carefully. You can get advice on what to eat with the wine and even taste it beforehand. You will probably treat those bottles a bit more specially than something you popped in the supermarket trolley because it had a pretty label or was on promotion.

By the time you are reading this article January, whether Dry or French, will be over. But I hope it will still encourage you to treat wine as a special drink to be savoured and enjoyed over meals with friends and to explore the diversity of French wine regions, choosing good examples, rather than the cheapest ones. 

Jonathan Hesford has a Postgraduate Diploma in Viticulture and Oenology from Lincoln University, New Zealand, is a member of the Association of Wine Educators and the owner and winemaker of Domaine Treloar in the Roussillon.