Books & Bottles: Pairing What’s in Your Glass with What’s on Your Page
Book clubs today often have a reputation for being frivolous, with memes and tchotchkes sporting phrases such as “My wine club has a book problem.” We may see the two – books and bottles – as inseparable now, but they haven’t always been paired.
When compared to the noble aspirations outlined in the doctrines of early literary societies – such as the Boston Gleaning Circle whose guiding mission was “meeting in this social way to search for truth” or the Colored Reading Society, also known as the Reading Room Society, which aimed “to instruct and assist each other in the improvement of our minds” or the anti-slavery roles played by the Ladies Literary Society of New York – it may appear that today’s reading circles have a more social and vinous purpose. While the goals and therefore structure of many reading groups have evolved over time, gathering to discuss written texts still plays valuable roles in our lives. With or without wine, book clubs today foster community, connection and the exchange of ideas.
Exploring Ideas
A 2015 survey by BookBrowse found that “overwhelmingly, book club participants want to read books that expand their horizons.” While advocacy organizations have taken on many of the political roles literary groups once played, book clubs are continuing to serve as spaces to learn and converse about prevalent issue areas. BookBrowse’s 2020 survey showed that reading texts related to racial justice in book clubs had increased 28% while those discussing current events had increased by 15%. Book stores, such as Fulton Street Books and Coffee in Tulsa, Oklahoma, supported those conversations with reading guides or subscription services like the Ally Box, which provided two anti-racist books a month along with access to an online learning collaborative.
BookGive has also supported Denver-area book clubs seeking to deepen their understanding of race and anti-racism. Since our inception, we’ve provided free copies of newly released books to the BookBar branch of the Well-Read Black Girl book club, and in the wake of the 2020 uprisings, BookGive distributed free new releases by authors of color to local reading circles.
Creating Community
Sociologist Christy Craig has noted that talking about literature is not only about the literature itself, but “is also [about] examining one’s ideas, identities, thoughts, and sense of self.” Reading groups have a significant role in creating community among members with shared identities and providing access to literature that relates to one’s personal identity. The Free Black Woman’s Library in Los Angeles, for example, describes part of its value as “having a consistent space where folks can go and be themselves and feel seen,” and the Quatrefoil Library grew from a lending institution to a space for members of the LGBTQIA+ community to be unapologetically themselves, “allow[ing] generations young and old to see themselves represented” in what they are reading.
Connecting Comrades
Craig also noted that women often “turn to book clubs in times of upheaval as a way of seeking wisdom both from books and from one another.” The 2020 study Book Clubs in Lockdown found that at least half of book clubs participants felt their group was more important to them because of the challenges they were facing, including illness and isolation. Readers seek support and camaraderie not only in groups that encourage discussion and but also in circles that don’t require conversation at all, as evident by the growing Silent Book Club movement. Started in 2012 by two friends who wanted to read in companionable silence, there are now more than 300 chapters of this unique “introvert happy hour” model around the world, including one at BookBar in Denver.
Pairing Books and Bottles
Community is often created and ideas are often exchanged over a glass of vino, and there is a growing interest in the intentional pairing of wine and books.
Discover pairings. Jamise Harper, co-author of Bibliophile: Diverse Spines, features wine and book pairing recommendations on the @spinesvines Instagram account. Lauren Popish discusses her recent reads and an accompanying vino on her podcast Book (Wine) Club: Reading Between the Wines on Apple Music.
Discuss wine and books. Two sisters, La’Nesha Frazier and La’Nae Robinson, co-founded Bliss Books and Wine in Kansas City, which holds a virtual Wines and Spines book club monthly, while Kayla Conti hosts a Books + Bellinis social club for black and brown women in Brooklyn and beyond who love literature and sparkling wine cocktails.
Gather over pours and pages. BookBar, where BookGive got its start, was launched as a space where the community could savor wine and books together. Books and bottles are paired every day and Denver locals can purchase bundles as gifts.
BookGive’s current pairing suggestions
If you’re aiming to match what’s on your page with what’s in your glass – whether it’s for yourself or your upcoming book club – BookGive offers its book and wine recommendations below. Five fictional tales have been paired with pours from Colorado wineries, considering what flavors, weight, structure, and intensity compliment or contrast with the tenor of the plot.
Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead
Mutiny, Ladrón Cellars
With a main character who describes himself as “only slightly bent when it comes to being crooked,” Harlem Shuffle pairs well with Mutiny by Ladrón Cellars, an Englewood winery that gets its name from the Spanish word for thief. The cabernet sauvignon, syrah, and zinfandel blend with grapes from Paso Robles, California, is light bodied but has enough complexity for the tense moments when the reader wonders if Ray Carney, an honest furniture salesman, will play a role in his cousin Freddie’s nefarious line of work and if Ray’s involvement will be for Freddie’s benefit or his own.
The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
2019 Malbec Reserve, BookCliff Vineyards
Those who binge-watched Netflix’s Bridgerton will be entranced by the love, betrayal, and hints of magic in Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Belle Époque period novel, The Beautiful Ones. Bookcliff’s flirty Malbec Reserve, grown on the western slopes of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and produced in Boulder, pairs well with the courtship between Nina and a telekinetic performer Hector who has recently returned to town. The bold dark fruits of the wine mirror the shrouded motivations of Nina’s suitors and family members as she searches for her fairytale-worthy lover.
The Final Revival of Opal and Nev by Dawnie Walton
2019 Cabernet Franc, Kingman Estates Winery
The Kingman Cabernet Franc packs a punch of flavor that compliments Dawnie Walton’s oral history of a 1970s rock duo that is so expertly written readers may believe that this fictional band once performed together. With grapes grown in the Grand Valley of Colorado and crafted at the winery in north Denver, the wine’s peppery finish adds spice to the secrets revealed in the interviews with bandmates, producers, friends, and others in the music industry – secrets that ultimately lead entertainment journalist S. Sunny Curtis to question the loyalty between her longtime idol Opal and British co-star Nev.
Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
Blanc de Blancs Sparkling Wine, Bonacquisti Wine Company
Readers who want to be swept away by a Great Gatsby style tale should pop a bottle of Bonaquisti’s sparkling Blanc de Blancs and join Katey Kontent’s journey through New York’s high society in the late 1930s. Crafted at the Sunnyside winery with Chardonnay grapes from Lodi, California, this crisp bubbly will make readers feel like they are ringing in the New Year at the jazz club where Katey first meets the successful banker Tinker Gray or perusing the art gallery decades later where Katey sees Tinker’s fall from fortune in the photographs on display.
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
2019 Langhe Nebbiolo, Attimo Wine
The Nebbiolo grape is thought to derive its name from the Italian word nebbia, meaning fog, and “in a fog” aptly describes Professor Jason Dessen’s state of mind as he struggles to make sense of how he woke up in a laboratory in a world that is not his own. The seductive red fruits of Attimo’s Langhe Nebbiolo will ensnare the sipper just as the page turning thriller Dark Matter lures the reader. The grapes, imported from Monforte d’Alba in Piedmont, Italy and bottled at the winery on Denver’s Larimer Street, exhibit a firm structure that will stabilize readers as they tumble through Jason’s new reality.
Ways to Engage
If this blog piques your excitement about pairing wine and books, join us for BookGive’s next event, Books & Bottles on February 23rd. A very exclusive event – we’re only selling 20 tickets – you’ll get to taste selections paired with yet-to-be released titles with a top-notch sommelier and book reps who know what’s going to hit the shelves even before the book stores do. Click here to grab one of those limited seats.
Share your own wine and book pairings with BookGive on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram!
Join the Wines & Spines book club discussion about Harlem Shuffle at 6 pm MT on February 2.
Follow some of the experts we’ve referenced here.
@bookwineclubpod, @laurenpopish, @spinesvines, @bliss_books_wine_kc, @silentbookclub, @tldrblog, @attimowine, @ladroncellarswinery, @bonaquistiwine, @kingmanestateswinery, @bookcliff_vineyards , @fultonstreet918
This blog contributed by BookGive volunteer, Colleen Maleski.
