Hi everyone, Bobby here!
I’d like to share some thoughts on my ‘sober summer’ so far…
Which I always prefer to share as more of a ‘reflection’ on my experiences, rather than anything else. In case the title of this blog post wasn’t obvious enough, this one is mainly about my ‘Dry July’ this year.
Before starting Somm Zero, anyone who knows me would tell you my day started with coffee and ended with wine. I loved indulging in a glass of wine whenever a special occasion arose, except sometimes I would effectively make up those ‘special occasions’... like having dinner, every night. Working as a sommelier for many years, I have always been surrounded by wine. Unsurprisingly, in the past I found it too easy to talk myself into another glass. More often than not that would be a daily occurrence. I know I am a creature of habit, and I have indeed been a habitual drinker. Honesty with myself on this has been a positive change in my life these past few years….
My decision to participate fully in Dry July was to give my body and mind some relief from an overindulgence in vino over the past couple of months. The context being that we had finally finished our WSET Diploma exams, and had celebrated with plenty of vintage Champagne, of course! On top of that, at the end of June I was finishing up a trip to Osoyoos with my family, where we had been enjoying wine tastings at numerous local wineries. And by the end of the vacation, to be honest I was feeling groggy every morning, followed by brain fog throughout the day. And quite simply, as a person within a young family and as a business owner, I just can't afford to have days where I’m not at my best.
Since starting Somm Zero with my colleagues I’ve encountered a wide array of sobriety - people who make the conscious decision never to drink alcohol for addiction reasons, ones who choose not to indulge for health reasons, and the sober curious who flex in and out of using non-alc products in tandem with traditional wine, beer or spirits.
We like to call it the ‘sober spectrum’...
Everyone is on it somewhere, and it isn’t always static.
For me, looking back, like many others (sometime in my mid-thirties perhaps) my body decided it was not going to process alcohol as efficiently as it used to. After I turned 40 it was like my body went on strike when it came to recovery after drinking, even a moderate amount. So after a four day trip to wine country my body/mind had enough. I woke up on July 1st ready to commit to a month of sobriety. How hard could it be?
Well, the first day of July landed on Canada Day long weekend, of course. So whereas I was hoping to ‘ease into’ my fully sober month, I was in fact going to celebrate Canada's birthday completely dry. Even harder was the perceived potential party peer pressure (that’s a lot of P’s I know) - with the fact my wife and I were going over to our friends for a BBQ to celebrate. So, I decided to bring some of our delicious Harmon’s craft non-alc beer (insert shameless plug). After all, is there a better way to partake than by cracking a Canadian craft beer to celebrate the birth of our nation? To be honest, it felt a little awkward at the beginning of the night, but became progressively easier. Also my wife and friends were all supportive of what I was doing. After a while the non-alc beer must have been hitting me because the placebo effect kicked in and I was having a great time! (I am a firm believer in this non-alc placebo phenomenon, by the way).
As days went by into Dry July I noticed a few changes (other than the extra money in my chequing account). The biggest thing I noticed was how much more energy I had during the day. As a person who is a perpetual mid day nap time taker, my wife would attest to the fact I get more sleep than a house cat. I realised that I didn't have a hankering for a midday snooze. In fact, at night I was getting some of the best uninterrupted sleep. Not waking up at 3 A.M to hit the bathroom; or tossing and turning into the early morning hours. Solid sleep is awesome, and so underrated. Right?
The month of July also brought a few out of town visitors. One was my Godmother from England (and one of my favourite wine drinking companions of years gone by). The other was one of my oldest friends whom I haven't seen in years as he has been travelling the world, chartering yachts all over the Atlantic. I was a little apprehensive to tell them I was taking the month of July completely off from drinking, but I was surprised at how understanding they both were. My godmother said she was actually also reducing her consumption by only drinking when there was company around, and my old friend said he would go months without a drop while he was working on ships. Go figure!
Now, obviously when my guests were over I had great non-alcoholic options to choose from, and offer my guests as well - a clear benefit of starting a non-alc distribution business! But more than that, it is just reassuring to know there are awesome options out there that mean we can feel confident serving people top quality bevvies without wondering if they’ll like them (regardless of where you buy your non-alc from, we can all agree that the category has improved so much over the past couple of years, and I’m so appreciative to everybody involved in making that happen). It was great to see my old friend who had never tried non-alcoholic wine, was pleasantly surprised by the quality, and ended up actually drinking more non-alcoholic wine than traditional wine while he was staying with us (my personal ‘go-to’ being our Zeno still rose or the Divin Sauvignon Blanc, for those wondering!).
Two weeks into July my overall mood had become even more positive, and I found that I had more patience in general. On a mental level I felt more grounded and felt like I had more emotional stability. ‘Things’ just seemed to not bother me as much. I started picking up healthier habits too. My diet improved. I started working out every morning again, as I felt more motivation to get into better shape. My overall mental and physical health were definitely improved.
I was down to the last week of the month and I could see the finish line.
However, there was one event that was between me and a month of sobriety. It was the W.S.E.T post-results class get together, and there was sure to be expensive, prestigious and old vintage bottles being opened up that evening. Luckily the group were not strangers to spitting wine out during tastings (thank you somm class!), so that's exactly what I did. The host of the party even provided me with a personal spittoon to use that night. I was still able to taste the flavours and appreciate the wines, without consuming the alcohol. I have never spat out vintage Champagne outside of the classroom before, but I guess there is a first time for everything! What was even more notable was the reassurance that not once did anyone peer pressure me to drink, or ask “why”?!. Any anxiety or worry I had at the beginning of the evening faded as the night progressed. For me, a cool sign of the times, where we can find a comfortable confidence in our choices, regardless of who we are with or the occasion at hand.
On the last day of July, our Somm Zero team and their respective partners went out for dinner. It was, for me, personally a celebratory ‘Dry July’ dinner, as I worked hard everyday to stay the course and not waver to temptation. Navigating tough social situations when alcohol is so prevalent in our society isn't easy; facing sobriety, whether it's for a month or your whole life, is something you have to work at everyday. I applaud everyone who tries. Ultimately, you have to want to be sober, and maintain that even in the hardest situations. So on reflection, through this sober summer, I’ve learned that I have stronger will power than I give myself credit for.
And I am confident that with a simple mindset shift, some dedication and support from friends & family (and of course a little help from some awesome non-alc bevvies), there is really nothing holding us back from seeking healthier versions of ourselves - in our own way and on our own terms, naturally.
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