The Queen Mum Defense

Could a 101-year-old matriarch who drank Dubonnet every afternoon be wrong? Yet suddenly teetotalers are everywhere, pouring you mocktails and proselytizing on your podcasts. Inside the new zero-proof doctrine

- JEFF GORDINIER

Hours before the end of 2022, I was standing by the bar at Le Rock, a new brasserie that has helped to bring a dash of elegance to a tourist-clogged stretch of Rockefeller Center, when Jorge Riera stopped to say hello. A burly and beloved presence in New York City, Riera is one of the world’s fore most advocates for natural wines, and if you happen to cross paths with him at Le Rock or Frenchette, the two Manhattan spots where he oversees the bottles, you’ll notice a gleam in his eye that tells you that he really wants to pour you something special.

I saw the gleam, and Riera had heard that it was my birthday.

“Can I get you a glass?” he asked. Then and there I was forced into the awkward position of telling one of New York City’s top sommeliers that, alas, I’d been taking a break from alcohol. Then Riera surprised me, because…so was he. “I take breaks throughout the year,” he later explained. “I always tell people, ‘Why do you wait for January?’ If you want self-control, do it in December.” At the height of the pandemic lockdowns, cases of premium wine nearly reached the ceiling in Riera’s apartment, but he stuck mostly to Vichy Catalan water.

“I never drink by myself at home,” he said.