My January Diet is Extra Dry…..Dry Champagne Specifically!
Surprised?
Happy New Year, 2026! Grab a glass of Champagne with me. I choose to focus this January on the healthy aspects of wine drinking: protecting myself with the antioxidants and polyphenols supplying healthy cardiovascular and anti-inflammatory benefits all found in a glass of wine. Wine is a beverage that was discovered spontaneously as early as 6000 BC in the Caucasus region of the world. Wine evolved from accidental discoveries in early agricultural settlements and spread into a central part of ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman cultures. Wine was served as medicine, ritual, and a social glue.
Surprised by my lack of a Dry January article this year? In the past I have written about having a Dry January complete with lower alcohol cocktails, “Lower Alcohol Cocktails with Texas State Mixologist, Shaun Meglen,” March 22, 2022. Millions of people do take part in this UK-initiated challenge with more Americans taking notice, too. Since there are 123 calories in a 5-ounce serving of wine and 100 calories per ounce of most spirits – many people have another incentive for Dry or Damp January: cutting calories. Posted below are a couple of favorite Mocktail recipes.
I am proposing for January instead a gluten-free, lactose-free glass of sparkling wine to celebrate a new healthy 2026. Let’s face it. It was a crazy 2025. In the 1920’s Prohibition was pretty crazy too: the rise of organized crime, “poisonous” bathtub gin, massive loss of tax revenues, and decimated vineyard land. How did Prohibition work for the US then? It was so bad that Prohibition was repealed in 1933.
My New Years resolution for 2026: Go through my kitchen drawers and rid myself of all those plastic cutting boards, plastic spatulas, and flaky Teflon pans that introduce microplastics, PFOA, and PFAS “forever” chemicals into my body.
Below you’ll see some recommendations for BOTH great-value sparkling wines and “mocktails” for those of you who want to take a month off alcohol. I encourage you and your own doctor to make that decision. I’ve posted some articles below both from wine experts and the National Institute of Health Library weighing the benefits of wine consumption. As for me, “out go the plastics, in comes the great-value bubbly.” Happy New Year! Looking forward to celebrating America’s 250th birthday this year with special commemorative articles in Wine Wanderings.
Non- Alcohol Spirits: Cocktails and Mocktails
I tried each of these cocktails below and they have my vote for a Dry(ish) January, if that is what you choose.
SeedLip Non-Alcohol Spirits, $32, or a Trio of Grove 42 Citrus, Garden 108, and Spice 94 for $89
Seedlip offers several choices for its non-alcohol spirits. My favorite is the Grove 42 Citrus, which boasts a botanical flavor. I personally tried and recommend both the CosNo and Grove Margarita.
CosNo Mocktail Recipe
This recipe is a non-alcohol twist on the Cosmopolitan.
Ingredients:
Seedlip Grove 42: 2 oz.
Organic Cranberry Juice 1 oz. (or opt for a low-cal cranberry juice)
Lime Juice: .5 oz.
*Simple Syrup .5 oz. (See below.)
Glass and Garnish: Coupe or Martini glass and orange peel
Method:
Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake & strain into a coupe or Martini glass. Garnish with an orange peel.
* To make Simple Syrup: combine equal parts very warm water & sugar. Stir to dissolve. Let cool.
Kentucky 71 Distilled Non-Alcoholic Whiskey, $36
Spiritless Maple Pecan Old Fashioned
Spiritless Kentucky 74, 2 oz.
Maple Pecan Simple Syrup, 1 oz. *
Dashes Salt Tincture 5
Orange Peel
Method: Stir all ingredients in a glass with rocks. Garnish with orange peel.
*Maple Pecan Simple Syrup- 1 cup pecans, 1 cup maple syrup, 1 cup water. Add water and maple syrup to pan, then stir. Heat and dissolve, add pecans and let simmer for 15 minutes. Sit off heat for 1 hour. Stir and strain into a container. Store in refrigerator.
Recommended Favorite Great-Value Sparkling Wines
Gruet Blanc de Noirs, NV*, New Mexico, $18
Wine Spectator, 90 Points
Gruet Winery uses traditional method (a la Champagne region) in making their wonderful sparkling wines, including this one which is elegant and dry with flavors of cinnamon bread and baked pear. The high altitude of New Mexico enables the necessary natural acidity for the grapes used to produce a good sparkling wine. For more information on Gruet: “Gruet Winery: a Premium Sparkling Producer in New Mexico, ‘French Roots and American Dreams,’” Wine Wanderings, December 14, 2021, Wine Wanderings.
Lucien Albrecht, Crémant d’Alsace, Brut Rosé, NV, Alsace, France, $19
Crémant are the best-value sparkling wines of France, whether the come from Burgundy, Bordeaux, Loire Valley, Alsace or another “non-Champagne” region of France. This is my go-to, best-value house sparkling wine. Easy to find and wonderful to drink with a variety of food. Wine Enthusiast, 90 points.
2020 Dr. Konstantin Frank Blanc de Blanc, Finger Lakes, NY $45
Wine Enthusiast, 92 Points
One of the “Wine & Spirits Magazine 2023 Top 100 Wineries of the World,” Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery makes wonderful sparkling wines. In my interviews with Fred and Meghan Frank, you will understand the drivers behind the quality and pioneering effort of this family-owned wine company. “The Crown Jewel of the New York Finger Lakes: Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery,” December 2024, Wine Wanderings.
Schramsberg Mirabelle Brut Rosé, NV, California $33
Wine Enthusiast, 91 Points. 62% Chardonnay, 38% Pinot Noir. Although the $185 2017 J Schram Rose wine is my favorite domestic sparkler, Schramsberg makes high-quality reasonably priced bubbles like this one. Note: the highlight of any trip to Napa Valley is a tour of the Schramsberg caves and wine cellars. “Wine and the Presidents. Historic Selections of 3 Presidents,” September 27, 2022 Wine Wanderings.
Nicolaas Feuillatte Reserve Exclusive Brut, Champagne, France NV $50
One of the best-value true Champagne choices. Decanter Magazine, 95 points
William Chris Vineyards, Special Allocation, Three Wines, $390/6 bottle pack
2023 Rebecca Caroline – Dell Valley Vineyards, Texas
2023 Rebecca Caroline – Boxing Rabbit Vineyard, Texas
2023 Dark Sky – Mourvèdre Blanc – Uplift Vineyard, Texas (as seen in the header video)
Sparkling wine is a new venture for this well-known Texas Hill Country Winery. They tend to go about making wine in a big way. I visited the winery this week and sampled three of their new sparkling wines. Wonderful. They recently purchased the original Hye, Texas US Post Office across the street from their sizable winery with the expressed purpose of making a sparkling-only tasting room. I encourage you to visit when you get a chance. “The World’s 50 Best Vineyards”: #31 and the only Texas winery in that list.
*NV – Non Vintage
Alcohol Consumption Opinion Articles
1. Dave McIntyre WineLine on Alcohol: “The New Prohibition, Part 1”, WineLine, January 14, 2025, “So is my cancer caused by my wine, or the micro-plastics in my ultra-processed food? Editor’s Note: How did that first Prohibition in the 1930’s work out for the US? Organized crime (Al Capone, Luciano), “poisonous” bathtub gin, massive loss of tax revenue? Oh, it was repealed!
2. Karen MacNeil, Author, The Wine Bible, “What I Wish I Could Tell the Surgeon General,” Winespeed, January 10, 2025
3. Moderate Wine Consumption and Health: A Narrative Review, Dec. 30, 22022 NIH- National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine. Hrelia, Di Renzo. “In conclusion, wine differs from other alcoholic beverages, and its moderate consumption not only does not increase the risk of chronic degenerative diseases but is also associated with health benefits.”
“Wine is historic, as for me, my wine [in January] will be extra-dry. – Karen MacNeil, , The Wine Author
Wine Wanderings Editorial Calendar 2026
Chablis – Chardonnay’s Stylish French Wine Region
LIVE from the Paso Robles Wine Region: Rhône Rangers Riding Strong at BlendFest
An Interview with Spirits Giant: Diageo on Whiskey Tourism
Celebrating America’s 205th Birthday with Wine and the Presidents
Canada’s Okanagan Wine Region
Would a Michelin Star System Work for Wine?
City Winery Hosts Ina Garten
Touring Portugal: An Oporto Tasting
LIVE from the Danube River with Wölffer Estate Winery: Old World vs. New World Wines
Meeting the “King of Wines,” Tokaji Aszú, Touring Budapest
The Venice of Portugal
*****
In Case You Missed It in the Wine/Spirits News:
The Guardian, December 22, 2025, “Bourbon Maker Jim Beam Stops Production at Kentucky Distillery.” Production is halting a one of its distilleries in Kentucky for at least a year as the whiskey industry navigate tariffs from the Trump administration. Bourbon makers have to gamble well into the future for aging and uncertainty is rampant. Sales of Bourbon to Canada (where a boycott started) and Europe are slumping.
Market Watch: December 18, 2025: “Sparkling Wines Shining Bright.” Sparkling wines are bucking trends and defying economic gravity at the beverage alcohol retail tier. Editor’s Note: Its my drink of choice this December.
Travel Opportunities
Editor’s Note: I will be cruising on AmaWaterways this April 20, 2026, on the Romantic Danube Cruise. Wine Wanderings subscribers: Come and join me and Wölffer Estate Winery’s Roman Roth, Winemaker/Partner on the Danube River. We will be visiting Germany, Austria, Slovenia, and Hungary.
Cruise the Danube on AmaWaterways with Wine Wanderings and Wölffer Estate Winery April 20, 2026, Romantic Danube.
“Enticing Douro River Cruise” with Dr. Bob Young. M.D. of Bending Branch Winery April 6-13, 2026
Hi! Thanks for the comment.....trying also to just frame watching out for your health in general (with the microplastics elimination). Mom lived to 99, so hoping her glass of wine a day is a good signpost.