Books and Wine
Wine, like people, can be complicated. No one will ever fully understand it, but here are three ways of looking at it.
� Wine is nothing more than fermented grapes that have been getting people hammered for thousands of years. On the other hand, wine, along with beer, has helped keep tribes, seafarers and even cultures alive owning to the fermentation that keeps it from spoiling too quickly. So wine is both a delivery system for relaxation and inebriation, and, throughout history, a contributor to the survival of humans.
� Wine writer Wes Marshall puts another view succinctly in his book, �What�s a Wine Lover to Do?� �Wine is food,� he writes. �It can be an integral part of a meal, enhancing food�s flavors, aiding digestion, and acting as a social lubricant.�
� On the far spectrum of the sublime, wine is a gift from God or the gods. It has a spiritual quality that comes from the l��me du vin, or the �soul of wine.� Those who feel this way about wine may sense a divine quality to it. Wine has been used in religious rituals of different kinds for millennia. There are characters in my novel who view wine in this way.
Who really knows, though? Maybe wine is a combination of all three views, or something else all together. In my most recent novel, �Vengeance Follows,� wine is a non-human character, informing plot points, motivations, occupations, dialogue and spiritual elements of the story. As I�ve said in interviews, my protagonist, Sam, an expatriate wine writer from Chicago, who moved to Paris and ends up in Chestnut Falls, Ohio, knows more about wine than I do.
For you oenophiles and bibliophiles out there � you lovers of wine who are not necessarily experts (or even if you are), and lovers of books � I�d enjoy meeting you at an event sometime, or hearing from you.
There�s an event coming up on May 9 at Chuck�s Fine Wines that pares literature and wine. (Though doesn�t that describe a lot of book clubs?) I hope you can make it to Chagrin Falls that night. We�ll drink some wine, talk about wine and books, and have some fun. Click the photo for the details.
� Wine is nothing more than fermented grapes that have been getting people hammered for thousands of years. On the other hand, wine, along with beer, has helped keep tribes, seafarers and even cultures alive owning to the fermentation that keeps it from spoiling too quickly. So wine is both a delivery system for relaxation and inebriation, and, throughout history, a contributor to the survival of humans.
� Wine writer Wes Marshall puts another view succinctly in his book, �What�s a Wine Lover to Do?� �Wine is food,� he writes. �It can be an integral part of a meal, enhancing food�s flavors, aiding digestion, and acting as a social lubricant.�
� On the far spectrum of the sublime, wine is a gift from God or the gods. It has a spiritual quality that comes from the l��me du vin, or the �soul of wine.� Those who feel this way about wine may sense a divine quality to it. Wine has been used in religious rituals of different kinds for millennia. There are characters in my novel who view wine in this way.
Who really knows, though? Maybe wine is a combination of all three views, or something else all together. In my most recent novel, �Vengeance Follows,� wine is a non-human character, informing plot points, motivations, occupations, dialogue and spiritual elements of the story. As I�ve said in interviews, my protagonist, Sam, an expatriate wine writer from Chicago, who moved to Paris and ends up in Chestnut Falls, Ohio, knows more about wine than I do.
For you oenophiles and bibliophiles out there � you lovers of wine who are not necessarily experts (or even if you are), and lovers of books � I�d enjoy meeting you at an event sometime, or hearing from you.
There�s an event coming up on May 9 at Chuck�s Fine Wines that pares literature and wine. (Though doesn�t that describe a lot of book clubs?) I hope you can make it to Chagrin Falls that night. We�ll drink some wine, talk about wine and books, and have some fun. Click the photo for the details.
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