Today, once again in our yearly trip around the Sun we are at the closest point to it. Close enough that it could be a reason for starting a new year. But apparently it has never been the reason for a new year in any calendar system.
For those living on the northern hemisphere it might be a bit of a paradoxical having the coldest time od the year when we are closest to the thing basically defining our seasons. In southern hemisphere it makes more sense, but still for the wrong season.
The seasons are defined by the amount of sunlight we get. The mere 5 million kilometer difference in distance between our closest (perihelion) and furthest (aphelion) point doesn't change the amount of light we get that much. The angle of the light is more important!