In the wine business, I grew to dislike the phrase, Rosé All Day as a marketing slogan. I mean it was just promoting over-drinking, right. Here though, is a great NA rosé that would be a delight at any time of day. I’d love this for a picnic or on summer evenings. Plus the Ted Lasso of beers, a new NA from Dax Sheppard and friends. And news about the retailer Boisson, shuttering its retail stores.

🙌 My top game-changer of the month is this new public service announcement from Oregon Health Authority, Rethink the Drink, - a spot called Why in which a little girl asks if drinking is good for her father since he has just told her it's not good for her. I'm all about it because it is based on curiosity and asking questions, not scaring, preaching or guilting.

Can you find a good, not too sweet sparkler for $4/bottle? Yes, and it’s been around for a while. Target announced it will carry Ghia and other popular and trending NA brands. Mel Robbins is advertising for Athletic Brewing. Lewis Hamilton, Formula One race car driver, is loving sobriety and has a new tequila. Ghia, founded by the French-born but LA dwelling Melanie Masarin, has introduced its first non-bitter aperitif. And a fave recent podcast with good news about our brains and dementia, for a change!! Plus so much more!!

The more we train our brain to notice small delights, the more it will. But where and how do we start? We can look up, look down, or turn over a new leaf so to speak. Turning over a new leaf....who says that you can't have a romantic dinner without wine? At Pétrelle in Paris, our sommelier/server enthusiastically informed us of an elegant, very dry kombucha made not of fermented tea but of fermented fig leaves. Very sexy. And delicious!

My review of the Zero Proof Experiences event in Maine last week is probably just what the organizers dreamed of. I made new connections and I got out of my comfort zone. I laughed harder than I’ve laughed in a long time (including about some things that went wrong and that’s ok!) and I cried, having vulnerable conversations with some old and new friends. I tried ecstatic dance which actually felt trippy and both relaxing and energizing at the same time which was kind of cool.

For readers in the Portland area, I’ve organized a meet-up at Wilderton, the nation’s first-ever AF distillery and tasting room. It’s located in the recreational paradise known as Hood River, OR, just across the Columbia River from where I spend the summer in White Salmon, WA. On Sunday, August 27th, we’ll get a free, private tour (and fun science lesson) of the distillery plus a tasting of three spirits, both neat and with mixers.