Skeptical of rigid „wellness retreats,“ the author found a surprising „well-living“ experience at Joali Being in the Maldives, which embraces wine and cocktails. Unlike traditional deprivation models, Joali Being and a growing number of luxury resorts define wellness as balance, where pleasure and social connection are vital components of health. They offer carefully curated menus of organic and natural wines, emphasizing moderation and quality. This approach allows guests to enjoy activities like sound healing and cryotherapy alongside a crisp Chablis or botanical spritz, demonstrating that true well-being incorporates enjoyment rather than strict adherence to fads, making the author feel „more alive.“
Seated in a climate-controlled cellar with views of the crystalline shoreline, I sip a glass of fresh Delamotte Brut and pick at a mountain of cheese and charcuterie. The Champagne, and then my next glass of mineral Chablis, wake up my senses after a jam-packed day of sound healing, Watsu water therapy, and biking under the Maldives sun. (Somebody has to.) I transition to Castellare Chianti Classico Reserva and nibble on salami. I’m at a wellness resort island in the middle of the Indian Ocean, and I’ve never felt more alive.
I’m surprised to find myself here, because “wellness retreat” might be two of the most tedious words in the English language. Over a decade of writing about travel, I’ve observed health fads come and go like the changing tides: sleep vacations, keto support getaways, biohacking retreats, you name it. In recent years, as the concept of “health” slims down into something rigid, joyless, and longevity-obsessed, I refuse to poison my vacations with this particular brand of misery. As someone with chronic health conditions and an appointment-filled life, I’ve accepted that there’s only so much wellness I can accomplish on a five-day sojourn. I don’t dream of living until 120, or outsmarting the illnesses that already got me. I really just want to eat potato chips in the sun and drink little beverages out of nice glassware.
Courtesy of Joali Being
But the ultra-luxe Joali Being, located on the small, lush Bodufushi island in the Maldives, is not a wellness retreat. Rather, the 68-villa property markets itself as a “a well-living island resort,” taking care to emphasize joy and wellbeing over discipline and detoxing—though there are plenty of opportunities to detox, too. (One sip of the blue algae smoothie at breakfast and I feel like the pinnacle of health, beauty, and women’s empowerment.) The emphasis on “well-living” means that wine and cocktails are naturally part of the program. As research has increasingly shown, pleasure is health, too.
“More recently, we’ve brought that joyfulness into wellbeing, so now we’re more ‘well-living,’” says Joali Being’s Director of Wellbeing, Laurie Michelle Nott. “The whole thing is balance, right?”
Health-oriented retreats and resorts have historically operated under a model of deprivation: no sugar, no caffeine, and absolutely no alcohol. But the bliss of a well-timed cocktail or glass of wine, enjoyed in moderation, fits into a more expansive vision of wellness shared by Joali Being and a small but growing number of high-end properties. “It’s a pleasure, and you feel calm and relaxed after it,” says Nott. “It’s about having the balance of that in our lives, and the joyfulness.”
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At the serene Six Senses Douro Valley, located in the middle of the world’s oldest demarcated wine region, guests can enjoy cryotherapy and biohacking labs but also an interactive Wine Library and Terrace featuring organic, biodynamic Ports and wines. Even SHA Wellness Clinic in Spain and Mexico, known for its strict macrobiotic diets, genetic testing, and cellular regeneration therapies, has embraced a more flexible approach, offering low-alcohol botanical cocktails and organic wines.
In these wellness spaces, the drinks menus are just as carefully considered as the food menus. “I wish more people understood that wine is, first and foremost, a food,” says restaurateur and sommelier Alessandro Trezza, who is a natural wine advocate. “And like any food, it should be as pure and respectful of nature as possible.”
Balancing Performance and Pleasure
Courtesy of Joali Being
While there is growing debate about the health impacts of alcohol consumption, there is also growing awareness that optimizing every aspect of our lives for “peak performance” leads to anxiety and misery.
Many of us would benefit from doing things the slower, less-efficient way. Sharing wine with others, for example, “encourages slower meals, deeper conversations, genuine hospitality, and a sense of belonging,” says wine educator and researcher MariaPia De Pasquale, PhD. “These moments of connection can have a profound impact on our quality of life.”
She adds, “For many people, these social rituals are not just pleasant traditions: they are essential to well-being. Human connection is one of the most important pillars of longevity … In many rural communities around the world, social life itself is considered one of the great secrets to living a long and fulfilling life.”
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I may not be training for peak performance, but I am open to the idea of performing. Back in the Maldives, I take a chance on two minutes of cryotherapy, which is agonizing, but leaves me feeling energized. Wrapped in the bespoke kimono that came with my villa, I stroll through the island’s palm-fringed “sound discovery path,” filled with instruments that promise to restore balance, energy, and inner harmony. I enjoy macrobiotic poke bowls and keep my phone on Do Not Disturb. I visit the turtle rehabilitation center and cry. Like Hannah Horvath in Girls, “I am busy, trying to become who I am.”
The crisp organic Chablis at the end of the day feels like a natural extension of it all. “Two important principles must always guide this conversation. The first is moderation, since wine does contain alcohol,” says DePasquale. “The second is the importance of choosing wines produced through natural farming practices, because excessive intervention with synthetic chemicals may alter or diminish many of the qualities that make wine unique in the first place.”
Courtesy of Joali Being
At the beachside restaurant Flow, I flip through a hefty wine menu that goes by “The Apothecary Book,” which features a global array of wines, many organic, sourced from wineries that have “carefully calibrated the impact of measurable production-related parameters such as diversity, sustainability, water footprint, carbon footprint, and interaction with the local community.”
In the spirit of balance, tonight I opt for a non-alcoholic concoction: the aromatic “Oh So Herbaceous,” mixed with Seedlip Garden 108, agave, sugar snap peas, and tonic water. Also in the spirit of balance, I follow it up with a crisp, organic Sancerre rosé. The next night at Yutori, the resort’s overwater Japanese restaurant, I am changed by a bitter and refreshing spritz made with chamomile Aperol, lychee liqueur, and organic Prosecco.
While alcohol is by no means at the forefront of Joali Being experience, its presence on the island has evolved over the past couple of years. “People always think that being healthy or going to the gym is boring and restrictive,” she says. “But if we want to now and again have something that is outside of that, it’s okay, right? It’s not going to damage us just occasionally having something that we enjoy.”
Courtesy of Joali Being
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