Choosing Your Path From Dry January, Try January, and Mindful Wine Habits

Struggling with the pressure of Dry January or feeling stuck between social trends and your love of wine? This episode relaunch of Everyday Sommelier with Kristi Mayfield empowers you to rethink restrictive trends like Dry January and Sober October. Dive deep into practical, approachable strategies for creating mindful wine habits—without sacrificing the joy and connection wine brings.

Explore the rise of counter-movements such as Try January and Come Over October, designed for wine lovers who want to explore, not abstain. Kristi Mayfield shares actionable tips for moderating alcohol intake, discovering lower-alcohol options, and creating rituals that make each glass more meaningful. Navigate social pressures, FOMO, and find your path to balanced enjoyment—whether you're aiming for moderation, seeking new wine experiences, or looking to host meaningful gatherings.

If you're a wine enthusiast looking for confidence and control, not just another challenge, this episode offers a judgment-free playbook for learning, connection, and celebration on your terms.

BY THE TIME YOU FINISH LISTENING, YOU’LL DISCOVER: 

• How to build mindful wine habits that fit your lifestyle—without feeling left out during Dry January
• Practical alternatives to 100% abstinence, like Try January, lower-alcohol wines, and wine-based rituals
• Strategies for balancing social pressure with personal wellness and confidence
• Empowering approaches to enjoy wine as a social power skill—not just a beverage

Top Timestamps & Titles

00:03:41 – The Social Pressure & FOMO Trap: Why Dry January Isn’t Always the Solution
00:07:32 – Beyond All or Nothing: The Biggest Misconception About Mindful Drinking
00:09:57 – Exploring Try January: A Pathway to Wine Exploration, Not Elimination
00:12:45 – The Power of Connection: How Come Over October Changes the Game
00:13:43 – Practical Tips for Creating Your Own Mindful Wine Rituals
00:16:19 – Your Personal Blueprint: Celebrate Wins & Share Your Journey

Everyday Sommelier Podcast is turning ONE! Thanks to you, our loyal listeners, we've had a fantastic first year! We're relaunching a few of your favorite episodes in celebration!

We're also announcing the launch of Sip Society Collective where high-impact women can 10X their Social Power Skills through wine. https://sipsocietycollective.com.

Cheers to many more years! Kristi

It's been such a pleasure sharing wine with you this past year! We also want to let you know our INSTAGRAM handle has changed to @kristi_sipsocietycollective - if you are already following, you're good to go. If you haven't followed us yet, now is the time!

Cheers to one year, our launch of Sip Society Collective (https://sipsocietycollective.com) and to learning wine your way! Kristi

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Transcript

Kristi Mayfield (00:00)
Christy, this is Jackie Boatwright. Can you share how you approach dry January compared to dry January? What are some of your favorite ways to embrace the principles of both and explore new habits without completely cutting out wine? Thanks. Wow, Jackie, that is such a great question. Thank you so much for sending it our way. I'm sure there are many other people out there who have similar questions. So I'd love to explore this topic a little further. mean,

In the age of social media, it can be extremely hard to pick a lane that you want to follow or even more so to be the one who goes against the grain altogether when it comes to trends like dry January. In the world of wine and spirits or alcohol in general, we've seen the dry January trend hit viral overload and it's spread into additional months. There's now dry July and sober October. I mean, what's next?

Stay away May, I mean please do not let that happen because my birthday is in May and I love nothing more than celebrating with a bottle of champagne. What if abstaining fully isn't something you choose to do? Is there another way you can be more mindful about wine? I are there alternatives you can follow or new ones you can actually create to use the same concepts of dry January? But shifting away from the total abstinence aspect, well...

You are in luck because in today's episode, we are going to explore some of these trends so you can pick the perfect January, July or October experience in your own way. Welcome to Everyday Sommelier, where we make learning about wine approachable, fun and something you can actually enjoy. I'm your host, Christy Mayfield. Think of me as your sommelier next door, here to help you cut through the complexity so you can enjoy every glass with confidence and

Learn wine your way.

Now I have been there, done that, dry January that is. I didn't really have a specific reason for doing so, but it seemed like everyone else was thinking it was a good idea. So my husband and I decided to give it a whirl one year. And we weren't necessarily doing it because we felt that total abstinence was something that we needed to do to prove we could do it. But, you know, rather we were coming out of the holiday season and I think we could all agree.

we could use a little detox from all the food, all the desserts, all the candies, as well as all the drinks that we had consumed. But for me, I truly missed the experience of a great bottle of wine over dinner with friends or trying a new bottle that hit the shelves on my favorite wine shop around the corner, or simply sitting in front of the fireplace, having a great glass of wine while reading a book or watching a movie. I mean, for me, it wasn't about the alcohol.

It was about the experience that I missed. And to me, there is nothing like wine to evoke something special or to make the ordinary seem just a little bit better. Now, later that January, when I was visiting my family in Kansas City, I popped into my favorite shop, Underdog Wines. And as I was chatting with the wine shop owner, he enlightened me on his approach. Try January, and I was so excited.

as he described how he approached dry January. And I knew that this was something I could use to explore these months in a whole new way with wine, but without having to give it up altogether. Now, I know you're wanna consider putting some of these ideas into your rotation as well. So let's start off with why dry January, dry July, sober October have become so popular and what it can mean to you as a wine enthusiast who might be considering

whether you should adopt one of these trends or which one is right for you. So the history of Dry January, it is a month long feat to be sober and officially launched in the UK in 2013 under an organization called Alcohol Change UK. And it has exploded and is now a global phenomena. But interestingly, the concept of Sober January goes all the way back

to the year 1942 when the country of Finland initiated this as a way to win the war against the Soviet Union. So it makes a lot of sense that the month of January is when this trend is launched because there's so much focus on New Year's resolutions, launching new health trends, any other kind of diet or weight loss. In fact, in 2023,

15%, which is more than 260 million Americans practiced dry January. Now I don't have the same statistics on how many succeeded, but that's a significant number. And the trend of sober October was actually introduced the following year in 2014 as a cancer support fundraiser as a way to raise funds on the awareness for cancer research. Some of the benefits

that I have read and the feedback given by past participants includes weight loss, better diet, reductions in liver fat and blood sugar. Now personally, I didn't lose any weight, but hey, I guess that's maybe a personal thing. You may be asking yourself, what are the root causes or desires for why people actually want to embrace these trends? So let's explore some of these motivations. Just in the same way as a New Year's resolution, having a health

reset is often one of the triggers for participating in dry January and it falls right in line with the rest of the New Year's resolutions of losing weight and improving health. Some people fall into it because of the social movements and the pressure from social media or just that overall influence. I mean, if you open your Instagram, Facebook, even your LinkedIn in January and you are flooded not only with everyone's New Year's resolutions, but also with posts about the dry January trend.

Now mindfulness and being more mindful or conscious about your health, about your lifestyle is another trend that people are looking for to seek out balance and moderation and not only their drinking habits, but many other areas of their life. But some of the common challenges that actually wine lovers face during dry January or let's say sober October is, you know, there's this

potential fear of missing out or FOMO when you're in a social setting and there's wine or there's cocktails being poured, there can be a real social pressure of not participating or not having that drink in hand. On the opposite side, however, there may be that fear of backlash for not buying into dry January or sober October altogether. So either side can happen.

And many people that I've personally spoken with have found that during January or during October, if they're participating in abstinence, there's kind of a lack of appeal for some of the non-alcoholic options. And it might just be more difficult for them to find a good adult type beverage to enjoy during those months. Now, the biggest misconceptions about these months or being part of these movements is the question around, do they...

actually require total abstinence. And if you really want to be true to the movement, you must participate with 100 % abstinence. So 100 % dry, 100 % sober for the entire month. And that means from all alcohol, that's beer, that's wine, that's spirits. But let's kind of shift our gear back to the topic of wine and why many people struggle with this.

all or nothing approach to these movements. If you relate it to weight loss, for example, and if you've made a New Year's resolution ever to lose weight, did you have to cut out all fast food? Did you have to cut out all fried food or desserts or anything that was quote unquote unhealthy? I mean, to be healthier, did you face a backlash if you didn't show up to the gym seven days a week or?

participate in every single yoga class for that, mom? Do these pressures or fears of not being all in actually make us feel worse about ourselves? Do they push us away from participating in these trends? Or should we instead find a more balanced or modified approach that we can actually buy into? But what are the new trends which can help us stay fully engaged if we do decide to participate in dry January?

and not feel like we're missing out on the wine experience by participating in 100 % abstinence. Now the good news is there are more and more stores, more and more restaurants who are celebrating and having non-alcoholic wines or non-alcoholic cocktails or mocktails and other drinks on their wine lists or on their shelves. And in the past, while mocktails or non-alcoholic wines might not have necessarily met expectations of consumers,

things are dramatically improving and there's more options that are focusing on quality and flavor in their experience versus just providing a non-alcoholic beverage. But I'd love to go in now and explore all of the alternatives for those of you out there who do not want to buy in 100 % to full abstinence. So what are these trends and what are these months? Again, I think you can do this any month, but instead of that all out abstinence approach,

There's so many counter movements that are popping up, which put the focus on not giving up wine altogether, but on how you can change your approach to wine or how you can incorporate wine into more meaningful experiences. So how does the try January movement encourage wine lovers to experience something different in their wine and wine journey? So instead of

Dry January or dry July, the movements around try January, try July are gaining tons of followers. Now, it does not mean drinking more, however, it can mean exploring new regions, exploring new grapes. Try January could be more about the learning process and trying to gain more knowledge about wine or different wines. It can be about finding a new group of

like-minded wine lovers to experience new things with, to have those different experiences. Another approach is for wine drinkers to make this more about moderation and less about restriction. So making really mindful choices. One could be setting things like limits, picking certain days of the week where you would consume a bottle of wine or a glass of wine and avoiding it in other days.

it could be exploring wine spritzers or wine cocktails where there's a lower reduction of alcohol. Speaking of lower alcohol, could be exploring lower alcohol wines, which there are tons of new ones flooding the market. But here's another alternative to sober October, which is come over October. And I truly love this concept because instead of being about

abstinence. This is a brainchild of wine educator and journalist Karen McNeil, along with her colleagues, Kimberly Charles and Gino Colangelo. I'm going to read quote unquote their mission. Our mission is to encourage people to invite family, friends, new and old to come together during the month of October and share some wine and friendship. We believe that through the simple act of sharing wine, we share other things that matter. Generosity.

caring and a belief that being together is an essential part of human happiness. Now who can't buy into that? I mean, this movement encourages people together with their friends, their family, their colleagues, share some wine, explore some new wines, celebrating that connection of people. And that is something that wine has done for centuries. Wine brings

people together. And there is nothing like having wine as the center of a great conversation, a great discussion, and a great collaboration. But what is the role of self awareness in reshaping your drinking habits? Being more mindful in general about your wine consumption can help you simply be more present. It's not about quantity. It's not about the number of bottles or the number of wines you explore. It's about being

present. It's about creating conscious rituals. So what if you create your own Wine Wednesday? I mean, we all love Taco Tuesday, don't we? And it's about understanding why you are participating in one of these counter movements to begin with. What is at the core of making that decision? And what is the core of making the most out of your experience?

So there's all kinds of new trends that are emerging for wine lovers like yourself who want to participate in these months without abstaining. So here's some of my favorite ideas, having fun with something new, trying some canned wine. We've talked about wine spritzers and wine cocktails or health conscious wines like organic wines, low sugar options. Maybe you're even curious about natural wines. A try July might be the perfect month for you to seek out and explore.

different natural wines, different wines in this category. We have an upcoming episode covering biodynamic wines. Now that could be an amazing trend for you to adopt for one of these months. But the bottom line is what do you do if you'd rather explore it and experiment with your wine palate rather than restricting it? We encourage you to try things like new and obscure grape varietals.

There's likely some right in your own backyard, some regional varietals you've never heard of at your local wineries. Maybe it takes a 30 minute drive to go out and try something new like Chamberson or Sauvon Blanc rather than traditional grape varieties like Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon. Follow the come over October concept and host a wine themed event with your friends. Focus on that exploration and education.

Bring a friend along, whether that's your spouse or friend, partner, or someone you might've just met over the holiday season at a wine tasting, and ask them to be your partner in crime. Because they're likely going to have some really fun and really new ways of thinking about what try January, try July, or come over October could mean, and create some really fun experiences and fun gets togethers where wine can bring you together with new people.

and mix it up. Even if you're in the try or come over movement, this is still an opportunity, a great opportunity to try out some of the non-alcoholic wines. For example, at your Sunday or Saturday brunch with friends, substitute that alcoholic sparkling wine for a non-alcoholic sparkler. Not only are you gonna save a few calories, but if you're like me, that temptation for an afternoon siesta,

is likely to be a lot lower. Now here's why this is important to you. Whichever direction you personally choose to go, here's a few tips and tricks to make the most out of your decision. It is your journey. This is your personal journey. And whichever path you choose, you don't have to explain it to anyone else. Find your tribe.

and share your experience with them. Because having that accountability partner, even if you're not going down the whole abstinence path, can keep you on track and keep you focused on achieving your goals. And most importantly, set some goals. What do you want to accomplish? What are you going to be mindful of? And at the end of the month, what is going to be a win for you? And finding somebody who's done the exact opposite,

If you're doing tri-January and a friend is doing dry-January, at the end of the month, sit down and debrief with them. What did each of you learn? What did each of you experience? What did you like? What did you dislike? In other words, what were the lessons learned? And would that inspire you to take the different path next year? So by being conscious and deliberate with whichever approach you choose, you can make

the most out of your experience. And make sure to celebrate your achievement at the end of the month because you've got this. Thank you so much for joining in today. Hope you've enjoyed this exploration and it's given you some great ideas on how you can either dry, try, sober, come over during your wine journey.

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