EMMANUEL PIERROT FOR LE MONDE
The French are on the verge of breaking a cliché. For half a century, the third national emblem has been steadily losing ground in the triptych of beret, baguette and red wine. Dry January is one of the most recent examples. This challenge, imported from across the Channel just five years ago, is gaining ground. So much so that the wine industry is worried.
Augustin Laborde is one of the few in the drinks industry benefiting from the shift. His wine store, Le Paon qui Boit (“The Drinking Peacock”), in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, is devoted to alcohol-free drinks for adults. He noted that non-alcoholic beer remains a safe bet, but that non-alcoholic wine is attracting ever more curious onlookers: “We sold two to three times more in January than in other months. In fact, we experienced what other wine merchants experience in December,” said the 30-something, against a backdrop of salmon and pastel blue.
Julien Veyron, who leads the consumer surveys for CGA-NielsenIQ, nevertheless notes a “huge gap” between the desire to abstain for a month and the reality. More than half (55%) of those surveyed declared themselves ready to take up the challenge. In the end, only 18% claimed to have succeeded. That’s one person in five. In a country renowned for its wine, this is no mean feat, especially as almost all those who have abstained now want to stay sober or drink less.
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