It’s become somewhat of a joke, book club meetings that are really just opportunities for people to get together over wine, aka the wine club meeting. But it made me wonder, what kind of books – and what wines – might have been people’s favorites during those meetings? So, I did what I sometimes do, I took the question to social media to find out. This was my post:
Hello wine lovers…and book lovers! Today’s round-up question is two, possibly three, fold: I know a lot of you enjoy your book club meetings for the wine more than the books – if we’re being honest here – but what I want to know is what books have been your favorites to discuss over wine? And what wines were the most memorable at those meetings?
Maybe because my question was a bit too specific, I didn’t have a lot of good answers to share. Mostly the lol emoji type stuff. But I bided my time and the best answer, and a nice list of wine-themed books to read, came from fellow WSET wine educator Dana Kramer:
I am in a Wine Club that reads books… at least that is what my husband, Chris Kramer calls it. We meet every other month and have done so for years with about a dozen women.
Whomever hosts typically serves wine, and other beverages… but the most fun is the host makes dinner or snacks based on something in the book. We do discuss the books at our club meeting, but we always have a nice time getting together. During COVID we met in a cul-de-sac and brought our own wine and snacks. LOL.
When I host, I usually have a wine themed book and select the wines based on the book. I also pair the wine with what was featured in the book if possible.
These are some well-received books in my club:
The Vineyards of Champagne, Juliet Blackwell
The Winemaker’s Wife, Kristin Harmel
The Vintner’s Daughter, Kristin Harnisch
The Lost Vintage, Ann Mah
The Winemakers, Jan Moran
While there are lots of wine related books in my library, these are some of my recommended relaxing reads in no particular order…
These Tangled Vines, Julian Maclean
Vertical, Rex Pickett
Sideways, Rex Pickett
Sideways 3 – Chile, Rex Pickett
A Good Year, Peter Mayle
The Vineyard, Barbara Delinsky
Judgment of Paris, George Taber
The Billionaire’ Vinegar, Benjamin Wallace
The Ripening Sun, ViIrginia Atkinson
The House of Mondavi, Julia Flinn Siler
I drive between 400-500 miles a week, so I get books on Audible. It is fun to compare my Audible experience with those who read the book.
Cheers.
Then I asked Dana, what about the wines, anything memorable: Actually, when we read the Vineyards of Champagne, we had several types of Veuve Clicquot. While the sparkles in my glass were very good, what was most interesting was the story of the widow and women making it during WWI.
Eve Bushman has a Level Two Intermediate Certification from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET), a “certification in the first globally-recognized course” as an American Wine Specialist ® from the North American Sommelier Association (NASA), Level 1 Sake Award from WSET, was the subject of a 60-minute Wine Immersion video (over 16k views), authored “Wine Etiquette for Everyone” and has served as a judge for the Proof Awards, Cellarmasters, LA Wine Competition, Long Beach Grand Cru and the Global Wine Awards. You can email Eve@EveWine101.com to ask a question about wine or spirits.
