Our Wine & Words group meets once a month to share what we have been reading, watching and listening to.
Our wine tastes are as varied as the literary genres we share and discuss.
Wine & Words
This page is dedicated to interesting reads and good wine.
Books and More
Recent Reads
Some of the books I have enjoyed reading so far this year are:
Ruth Shaw's memoir The Bookseller at the End of the World, Allen & Unwin.
Colm Toibin's, fictionalised biography of Thomas Mann, The Magician, Simon and Schuster.
Sarah Winman's, historical fiction, Still Life, PenguinRandom House.
David I. Kertzer's account of the papacy between 1846 and 1850, The Pope Who Would Be King, Random House.
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On the Go
At present I am reading:
Jeffrey Lee's biography of 12th Century crusader, Reynald Chatillon, God's Wolf: The Life of the Most Notorious of all Crusaders, Scourge of Saladin, Norton.
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To lighten my day I am also reading Bonnie Garmus's Lessons in Chemistry,
Doubleday.
What Makes a Favourite Book
What makes a book someone's favourite read is unique to the reader. My favourites are those books I want to reread, that make me want to find out more, and read more books by the same author. They are the books I don't want to loan to anyone in case I don't them back and then I have to go and buy another copy! I am very happy to share books, but I am equally happy to get them back again!
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A Favourite
Paulo Coehlo takes up quite a bit of space on my bookshelves. My all time favourite is The Alchemist (1993), I have bought a number of copies over the years and given them away. I always have a copy on the shelf.
I really enjoyed Ruth Shaw's book (see recent reads) and now want to visit her bookshop in Manapouri.
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Red or White?
A number of years ago a member of our waiting staff was serving some clients who couldn't make up their minds about which wine they would like. Getting just a little impatient Brigitte said: "can I help you sir, do you want it red or white, fizzy or flat?"
This was in the days when wines such as Bernadino and Cold Duck were on one page and a couple of pages over a client could find Dom Perignon, Lanson Black Label and some of the best reds New Zealand has ever produced.
Best Wine of the Year....so far
Many years ago I purchased some Chateau Mouton Rothschild as an investment. When my son needed to raise money so he could represent New Zealand at the World Inline Hockey Championships I sold the wine to help him pay for his trip.
About eight or nine years ago I received a call from Mark in Chicago to let me know to expect a special delivery. Yes, it was a replacement bottle of Chateau Mouton Rothschild 2011.
On a Sunday in summer I shared the wine with good friends. This silky, smooth and plush wine was accompanied by an antipasti platter, and whitebait fritters. Not the usual accompaniment for such a wine, but they went very well together. Great company, superb wine and delicous food - what more could one want on a late summer afternoon. -
