It’s Go Sober October. But what about Come Over October?

Vichy Célestins, France (from £8.70, 6 x 1.15 litre bottle, FrenchClick; Aqua Amore)

When it comes to festivals of abstinence, you’re really spoilt for choice these days: you can either wait and start your year with the radical antidote to Christmas excess that is Dry January, or you can sign up for the autumnal version, Go Sober for October, right now. I know plenty of people in the drinks trade who have an abiding hatred of both events, which, as well as hitting their profits in the short term, play into what they feel is a pernicious, puritan mood of neo-prohibitionism. I can see their point. But rather than grumbling about pesky Gen Z and their baffling lack of interest in booze – and having listened to friends who’ve extolled the virtues of a month off the sauce – I’ve made my peace with the idea, even if my own recipe for keeping at least something resembling a healthy relationship with alcohol is different. Rather than the sudden plaster-rip of a  total month-long break, I prefer the ongoing benefits of regular days off, with the off-days greatly enlivened by a glass or three of an intensely salty-savoury, sparkling mineral water such as Vichy Célestins.

Everleaf Forest Non-alcoholic Aperitif, England (£22, 75cl, Everleaf Drinks)

Going alcohol-free is certainly much easier now than it was even a couple of years ago. There’s been a massive improvement in the quality and range of no- and low-alcohol drinks specifically aimed at those of us who, during periods of abstinence, miss the flavours and textures offered by alcoholic drinks every bit as much as we miss the psychoactive effect. Many of my current favourites are made with care and flair using the same kinds of skills possessed by the best chefs and cocktail mixologists. I’m thinking of such elaborate concoctions of natural ingredients as the orange blossom, chamomile, saffron, vanilla, cinnamon, cassia, pink peppercorn, orris root, angelica, liquorice and vetiver that goes into the wonderfully complex mix of the softly floral-fragrant, richly bittersweet and spicy Everleaf Forest – a drink that, like vermouth, has the mouthfeel to work very well over ice, or with a less intensely flavoury sparkling mineral water (such as San Pelligrino), or, if you’re looking to add to the kaleidoscope of flavours, the citrussy kick of Fentimans Premium Indian Tonic Water (£2.50, 50cl, Ocado).

Chasm de Cabrespine, Minervois, France 2019 (£19.99, Laithwaites)

Resistance to sobriety campaigns seems particularly strong across the Pond, where last year wine writer Karen MacNeil and others launched a high-profile counter-event “Come Over October”. According to its website, the pleasingly-acronym-ed COO “looks to “encourage people to invite family and friends, new and old, to come together during the month of October to 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.” A tad shmaltzy perhaps, but, in a context of ever-more draconian wine-and-health advice from the WHO down, their desire to counter what they see as an “anti-wine” narrative, seems perfectly reasonable to me. As part of their civilizing mission, the group suggests coming up with themed wine evenings, with wine as a springboard for conversation. I reckon a new southern French red from Laithwaites is just the ticket for that. As well as being gorgeously soft and unusually fragrant, its bizarre production methods – it was aged “200 metres underground in a river running through a vast chasm beneath the mountains of Carcassonne” – are certainly worth talking about.