In Five Years: December 2020 Book + Bottle Pairing
Hallelujah! 2020 is almost over! Boy what a year it’s been. I know the clock striking midnight on December 31st won’t solve all our problems, but it’s a threshold I’m ready to cross, even if it is just a line in the sand. 2020 hasn’t been all bad - our beautiful store was born and thousands of people have safely been able to enjoy our books, wine, + coffee. We’ve watched friendships be forged, romances develop, and we’ve shared in the joys of each other even in a year where it’s so hard to be together. We are truly so fortunate to have had these sorts of experiences in this sort of a year. But, still, 2020 has been rough. In that light, I tried to pick a book and a bottle that would bring light and joy into the final few days of this dark year.
THE BOOK
If you knew all this was coming five years ago, what would you do differently? Would you love the same person, or leave them? Would you love them harder? Would you work as hard? Would you finally take a risk? That’s the premise of our December book, In Five Years. In this story, Danielle, the type-A main character, has a very realistic vision/embodiment of her life five years into the future (2025), and it’s not at all how she had anticipated. She returns to real time later that night and over the course of the ensuing five years does her best to waylay the premonition. There’s a twist that I won’t give away, but the sentiment is this: you can’t control what life is going to give you, that love doesn’t require a future, and that love doesn’t always look like what you’d expect.
“ Love doesn’t require a future.”
So often I’m reminded by my mother to “live in the moment.” It’s so easy to get caught up in dreaming and planning and predicting the future that you miss what’s happening right before your eyes. We’re all so busy all the time - are we actually choosing what we want our lives to be? Just because something fits a plan we have - does it mean it’s what we really want or need? In Five Years looks at life - relationships, work, family, and goals, and forces us to ask “what if it were different?”
I picked this book after recommendations from a few friends, pegging it by its description more as a rom-com than a full on drama. I knew the book took place in 2020 and was all about getting to relive a past and thought it’d be perfect - something light and breezy to end a tough year with. I thought it’d be a beach read with a cute love story about loving the one you’re with. It would help us all to appreciate what we did have in 2020. Instead, the book was heavy with meaning, literally made me cry, and was, in fact, not at all a love story in the sense that I’d imagined. However, it was even better soul-nutrition than the silly, easy read I thought it would be. Still, I read it in one short sitting, flipping the pages quickly to find out if Dannie’s life developed into the one in her vision or if she was able to direct it another way. Through these tears, I have more appreciation for what we did have in 2020 - what we have right now. We don’t need 2020 to get better, we just need to appreciate what we do have right now, despite what the future might hold.
THE WINE
I picked a wine to go with a rom-com - light and bubbly and pink. Then, the book was so much more than that…should I change my wine selection? Bubbles are great for December, but does it jibe with the drama of the book? Well, these aren’t just any bubbles, so it turns out it works just fine.
The book takes place in New York City, but Dannie has a legal heart-to-heart with a couple of her clients in southern California - a heart-to-heart that helps open her own mind to her own predicament. She loves New York, but in California, she feels space - to be a little less predictable, to make mistakes. This is a huge moment for Dannie and one that helps set her new future in motion. Our wine, Estelado is from Chile, a sparkling rosé made from the País grape, but the País grape also has its shining moment in California. Originally from Spain, País found its true purpose in the Americas - growing in California for so long it is often called the California grape, the Mission grape, the Los Angeles grape, or Criolla. País is an old standby - it was used for centuries to make sacramental wine - necessary but not necessarily desired. It was predictable, made sense, and was a little boring.
But recently, winemakers have been experimenting with grape varieties that can perform better than their heritage suggests if given the right care. The País variety, grown by many small farmers, had been all but forgotten, until recent winemakers chose to give it a new lease on life. País often makes light, simple red wines, but when turned into a rosé, it’s really allowed to shine! The grapes are dry-farmed which means they don’t irrigate the vines, causing them to struggle, thereby producing fewer, but more flavorful berries. Bursting with flavor, the wine is then turned into sparkling wine in the traditional (champagne) method of secondary fermentation in the bottle. It has incredibly low dosage (added sugar), is certified sustainable, and is fair trade certified throughout the entire production process.
When made deliberately, with care and intention, the País grape has become something beautiful and desirable in its own right. With tiny bubbles, a natural creamy brioche character, and pleasant red berries and sweet citrus and melon notes, this wine is a steal at only $17/bottle. It’s zippy and clean and energetic but that’s all underlined by a realness, a homeyness, and a complexity that lingers on the finish.
I won’t give away the ending of the book, but let me just suggest that you pop the bottle with your bestie and share your book when you’re done <3
