You know when there’s something—be it a song, movie, quote, book, food, video—you keep coming back to? Everything reminds you of it and you bring it up to everyone in conversation? This week, it was the store/Instagram account “@wedrinkbooks”. While I haven’t been lucky enough to visit the shop in Seattle, I tell everyone about the concept: pairing novels with a bottle of natural wine that in some way complements the book. As some of you know, my partner is a sommelier and has his own wine project, so our household is pretty much exclusively books and wine. (Shameless plug: if you live in Europe and want to try some really unique, high quality but well-priced low-intervention wine from Spain and Portugal that you can’t really find elsewhere…check out his site!) All of this inspired me to put together my own book and wine pairings, so keep reading and let me know which books and wine you’d pair together :)
I’m also going to put the call out now (more details below): I’m looking for Parea’s next Escape book. If you’re writing, or want to write, a whimsical, adventurous book that takes readers on an escape somewhere, let’s chat.
And finally, before we get into it, this week’s prose spotlight comes from Amina Cain’s Indelicacy:
“Out in the street, candles light every window. When I can’t get my thoughts down, I look at them. The flames remind me of my future; I’m afraid I might burn everything up. People are walking in and out of the same four shops; I know they haven’t bought anything good. When I went inside those shops, I was bored. I’m bored by this one street.
If something flows through me, I think it is mine. It is not mine. The carriages driving close to my windows.
It’s strange being alone again. In the afternoons there’s a spaciousness larger than I’ve ever wanted. I had a husband and I left him; I wonder how he is. Now I have writing, but I also have too much of my own self. I am stalking my own soul.”
On to the books and bottles!
Infusing Modernity into Old, Refined Culture
The Book: Grand Hotel Europa by Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer
This was one of those books that jumped out at me from the shelf at Daunt Books in London, begging to be read at this exact moment. I’m glad I listened because I thoroughly enjoyed so many parts of the book—it’s about a middle-aged Dutch poet who recently lost the Italian love of his life and has taken up residence in an aging grand hotel in an unnamed Italian city. Much of the book is a commentary on Europe, its refusal to embrace many aspects of more modern cultures like the US or countries in Asia, the celebration of all of the art and culture that has come from European artists (albeit centuries ago), a satire of the tacky tourists that traipse through these ancient cities with no regard to the history they’ve ensconced themselves in, and the many existential crises that a heartbroken writer faces. It’s fast-paced, quite witty and clever with prose, equal parts funny and wise. It adeptly summarizes the tension between heritage and innovation. It’s a great book to bring to a park on a summer day, or to read with a glass of wine near some flickering candlelight. Which brings me to…
The Wine: Aged Verdejo by Barco del Corneta from La Seca, Spain
The best word for this wine is “unexpected”. If you know anything about verdejo, you probably think of it as the flavored water that you find in wine bottles on the shelves of supermarkets. Spain produces tons of verdejo wine and 99% of producers make it in the same way: light and lackluster. The winemakers from Barco del Corneta decided to respect the grape but bid farewell to tradition and actually aged the verdejo, making it very full and rounded with notes of melon and fresh cut grass. A glass of this white packs a punch (and I don’t typically like white wine), making it the perfect complement to this rich yet entertaining novel. Buy some here, if you fancy!
Land and Nature Rule All
The Book: Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton
Part mystery, part good vs. evil, part ode to conservationism, this novel is unlike most. The story takes place in New Zealand and touches on a trope we talk about often: how can we protect our land and environment from the billionaires who exploit it? The book is about what happens when a guerilla activist group that plants farms on unused or public plots of land takes help from an American billionaire rife with resources who claims to be on their side. If you’ve ever been to New Zealand you know how beautiful the land is and how hard people fight to protect it, an increasingly common narrative across the world. This book will keep you hooked and will (hopefully) provoke a deeper inner dialogue about your own tie to and use of the land around you.
The Wine: Outeiros Altos, Branco De Uvas Tintas from Estremoz, Portugal
The husband and wife team that run the winery Outeiros Altos are deeply invested in working with their land instead of against it. They’re known as one of the first organic wine producers in the Alentejo region of Portugal (remember, when a wine is organic that refers to the farming style, when it’s natural it means there were few things added to wine product itself during all production and fermentation) and they take great care and pride in letting the soil and the environment dictate the wine instead of the other way around. In the case of this particular bottle, it’s actually a white wine made from red grapes which gives it a pinkish-gray hue. The best way to describe this wine is “smashable”. It’s delicious, on the lighter side but with lots of flavor, it goes down easily but still has lots of complexity (available here). The same can be said of Birnam Wood: it moves fast but it makes you think hard.
I Refuse to be Put in a Box
The Book: Indelicacy by Amina Cain
This is a short but powerful story of a woman in an undefined period of time and undefined location who knows she wants to be a writer but gets married because that’s what is expected of her, then she finally gets the courage to leave her husband and live independently. The way Amina Cain gives voice to the often banal feelings of unwelcome uselessness and the uncomfortable way being stuck in a dynamic society has thrust upon you makes this book relatable to anyone who’s felt the pressure of conformity. This is one you can read in an afternoon or evening, preferably while eating a big piece of steak (or a vegetarian equivalent…), drinking a hearty red wine, and enjoying your own company.
The Wine: Tentenublo Wines, Tentenublo from La Rioja, Spain
Ok, maybe you haven’t heard of verdejo wine but I’m guessing you’ve heard of La Rioja. It’s a massive region in Spain that pumps out the country’s supply of red wine. It’s the region that’s most exported to the US, so if you’ve had a Spanish red wine it’s likely from La Rioja. Because of the far-reaching audience and mass production, the Spanish government has strict guidelines for what a Rioja wine is supposed to taste like. In order to get the Rioja certification, the winemakers must adhere to this—and most of them do, as there’s lots of money to be made exporting massive quantities of wine. Roberto, the winemaker behind the Tentenublo project, isn’t interested in the regulations that govern his region, he’s interested in making damn good wine with a wide variety of grapes that he grows in his multiple vineyards. Red wine is my go-to year-round, regardless of what I’m eating, and this is one of my new favorites. The wine is wild, bold, lively, with a bit of spice and some nice red fruit (available here). If the main character from Indelicacy were a wine or a winemaker, this would be it.
Parea’s Next Escape Book: I’m looking for our next great “escape” category book! As we say on our website, “Grab an Escape book when you want to evoke a sense of wonder. These books feel like a cloud of possibility, a mental respite, a warm light beam of an undiscovered world.” The topic and structure could be anything—maybe it’s a memoir that takes us to a completely unknown place, perhaps it’s a series of essays, maybe it’s poetry, maybe it’s about food, travel, or wine! If you’re writing something along these lines and want to chat, drop me a note at about@pareabooks.com.
Next week we’ve got our first guest post from a brilliant creative and Bookstagrammer, plus a quick guide for thinking about and setting goals as a writer. Enjoy your weekend, and let us know what you’re reading and sipping on…