Read between the wines: Wine and book pairings by a connoisseur
“It Isn’t good to keep things bottled up. Drink wine!” — RE:BOOKS (Go ahead and groan! Or are you too sober to appreciate a wine pun?)
Personally, I think you should always keep a bottle of wine on hand for special occasions. You know, like Valentine’s Day Tuesdays. (How’s your hangover, BTW?)
For many of us women who happen to love to read, all we need for eternal happiness is a good book and wine! In fact, bringing a bottle of wine to your book club is a great way to make up for the fact you haven’t read the book. (And if you didn’t do your reading homework, learn how to fake it through a book club meeting here.)
I still don't understand why, but my wine group insists on talking about books. (Haha!)
But if you also want to fake that you’re knowledgeable about wine, we spoke with wine expert Dick Snyder so he can share his expertise on choosing the right wine to pair with today’s book recommendations. (Full disclosure? I may or may not have dated him in the early 90s.)
Snyder also freelances as an editor and writer, specializing in food, wine, and travel writing. He is the drink’s editor of Canada’s 100 Best Restaurant magazine. You can find his by-wineslines in Toronto Life, LCBO Food & Drink, and Good Food Revolutions, as well as other publications. All you wine lovers and travellers can follow him @citybites.
His choices are all great picks for your next special occasion and will pair well with any book.
In fact, reading about his wine choices is fascinating. I’m going to start reading more labels on bottles!
And remember, it’s always five o’clock during this pandemic somewhere. Cheers!
Second Place by Rachel Cusk
Dick Snyder: Need something calming, sturdy, steady and reliably alluring to sip on? Yeah, who doesn’t. A Chianti Classico — hailing from the Toscana region of Italy — will deliver comforting ripe plum and blackberry accented by savoury notes of dried herbs and possibly a little warm oak spice, depending on the bottle. A great wine for sipping or enjoying with a really over-dressed gooey pizza — there’s comfort in all of this. Try Isole e Olena Chianti Classico 2018 ($39.95) from the Halpern agency or try your luck at the LCBO.
Untrue: Why Nearly Everything We Believe About Women, Lust, And Infidelity Is Wrong and How The New Science Can Set Us Free by Wednesday Martin
DICK SNYDER’S WINE RE:COMMENDATION: In wine, too, there are many untruths. For this book, you need a wine made by a woman — Kelly Mason — who makes wine for a female-owned winery. That would be Barbara Condotta’s Honsberger Estates in Niagara, Ontario. The wine is their 2019 Cabernet Franc, a grape that begat the more famous Cabernet Sauvignon grape, but is way more intriguing. You might say Cabernet Franc is the female expression of this species of grape… The wine is ripe, luscious but edgy. Deep blackberry fruit, cherry, hints of spice and herbs, a whiff of tobacco, and a textural sensation that is quite… sensual.
S.E.C.R.E.T by L. Marie Adeline
DICK SNYDER’S WINE RE:COMMENDATION: This tale may require a generous, seductive, hedonistic wine… oh my there are so many. Let’s move toward Pinot Noir, a grape that confounds, annoys, entices, seduces, disappoints and antagonizes… and satisfies — sometimes — but not when you want it to. With Pinot Noir, especially from Burgundy, you take your chances. So take gamble on any good Bourgogne Pinot you can find at your local, or go direct and order a bunch of Seguin-Manuel 2019 Pinot Noir, Bourgogne ($34.95).
Disobedience by Naomi Alderman
DICK SNYDER’S RE:COMMENDATION: Good kosher wines are still hard to come by, but if you can find them, leave convention by the wayside and try Tishbi Cabernet Syrah Kosher KP 2019 ($43.85).
Tahira in Bloom by Ferah Heron
DICK SNYDER’S WINE RE:COMMENDATION: Woosh… all that blooming and freshness and fragrant perfume… Time for a sparkling rosé, though, really, ALL THE TIME is time for a sparkling rosé. Grab any one you see on a shelf — 90 percent of them are at least good. Or, go for outstanding with the Henry Of Pelham Cuvée Catharine Rosé Brut ($32.95), from the winery or the LCBO.
Farm Girl: A Memoir by Megan Baxter
DICK SNYDER’S WINE RE:COMMENDATION: An organic farm girl would demand an organic wine, and one of Ontario’s leading organic and biodynamic wines is Southbrook where winemaker Ann Sperling — herself a farm girl — makes the very delicious Triomphe Chardonnay 2018 ($24.74.)
Geographies of a Lover by Sarah De Leeuw
DICK SNYDER’S WINE RE:COMMENDATION: Great poetry is all about balance — and so is great wine. Tension, release, grace and poise — kind of like being on a high wire. Well, there’s a wine for that — Tightrope Sauvignon Semillon ($25) from the Okanagan has all of this and more. Delicious and elegant, with crisp lime and citrus and a wild herbal edge.
Diet For Great Sex: Food for Male and Female Sexual Health by Christine DeLozier
DICK SNYDER'S WINE RE:COMMENDATION: When presented with a banquet of choice in the food and sex department, it’s important to have the most versatile wine as possible at the ready. That would be sparkling wine, and you can splash out on Champagne or have just as good a time with a Spanish Cava, Crémant from France, or a good Canadian bubbly. Try the 2021 Benjamin Bridge Nova 7 from Nova Scotia ($24.75) — with a touch of sweetness and generous tropical fruit flavours, it’s simply irresistible.
It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover
DICK SNYDER’S WINE RE:COMMENDATION: A page-turner of a book requires a wine of some delicacy, lest you overindulge simply because you can’t put the glass down. An easy-to-love, easy-to-drink wine is what you need — exemplified beautifully in a Gamay from Beaujolais in France. Soft and deliciously fruity, silky in texture, beautiful smooth and balanced. Maybe a little too easy to love…? Try the Louis Jadot Beaujolais-Villages ($18.95) at the LCBO.
The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman (Give a guy a bre:ak!)
DICK SNYDER’S WINE RE:COMMENDATION: Falling in love is easy. Staying in love is not. Purports this book. And it sounds about right. Fortunately, one doesn’t have the same problem with wine. If you don’t love the wine you’re drinking, dump it. Now. Get another one. Here’s one you’ll never want to be without: Monte Antico 2016 ($15.95) at the LCBO and many other places — it’s cheap, tasty and red. It won’t let you down.
Until Next Time,
Flip your hair and flip the page (and enjoy some wine to be well read red)
xoxo
Rebecca