Wintering in Florida: January 2021 Book + Bottle Pairing
At very long last, happy new year, my friends! And what a year it was. So much happened, and we learned so much - about ourselves, about others, about how to be. We were suddenly forced to be with ourselves - alone and quiet and still. Plans were cancelled, deadlines pushed, expectations loosened, and businesses shuttered. At the beginning, when the weather was still pleasant, people took to the streets with their families - walking and jogging in the sunshine. We took up knitting and baking and exercising. Then, when it didn't end, we began to hunker down. We retreated inward and slowed down. We sat with ourselves, we called old friends, we read books.
With the advent of 2021, society is filled with the hope that soon the new vaccines will be widely enough distributed that we can begin to return to "normal." But might we be well advised to remember some of the lessons this hard year taught us? Wasn't it nice to cook for yourself? Wasn't it nice to wear stretchy pants all day instead of a suit? Wasn't it nice to facetime with the family and feel connected? Wasn't it nice to read a real book?
Personally, starting a new business at the beginning of 2020, and having my opening day literally coincide with the original city closures, I didn't get the same kind of downtime that others were able to relish in. Ironically, I read fewer books this year than perhaps any other year of my life. I certainly worked more hours than I ever had before. My own sourdough starter was DOA. And, I really stretched the limit on how many days (weeks?) I could go between laundry cycles. While others are anxiously awaiting a return to the hustle and bustle of "normal" life, I'm dying to retreat inward and slow down.
It turns out this desire for a slow season is natural. Just like the seasons turn and the earth slows down, animals hibernate, trees shed their leaves, so too, do humans crave a rest and rebirth. This is a universal truth that I fortunately rediscovered not from a period of quarantine, but from the absence of it. At the peak of my busiest busy, the book Wintering by Katherine May arrived in a box for me to put on the shelves at the shop.
“For every season, turn, turn, turn. There is a season, turn, turn, turn.”
THE BOOK
It was an instant attraction. The pale creamsicle cover and the subtitle "The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times." Well, hasn't this been a difficult time? Don't I need some rest? I knew immediately this was the book to kick off our new year, at peace with our stillness, in the dead of Florida's (brutal?) winter.
Wintering is a collection of Katherine May's beautiful ruminations on our more quiet, internal moments, when we really need to care for ourselves. For May, difficult times include a sick husband, being perpetually overworked, and depression. Whatever your difficult time might be, it's not as much about dealing with sadness as letting our natural rhythms take over and giving in to the times in our lives when we need a little more self care. For some, that might be the challenges lingering from 2020. For me, it's the sheer exhaustion of being a new business owner.
May explores the idea that during these tough periods, we can best take care by going through "winter" ourselves. Shutting down, slowing down, and then coming out fresher when we're reborn in the next season's springtime. I'm incredibly thankful for having the space for Book + Bottle to winter over the holidays - our team was able to spend much needed time with family, and I was able to just sit and reflect on the magnanimity of 2020. It was the first truly quiet moment I'd had all year.
And , while I want to hold on to that feeling, it's not possible for me to stay in that quiet place for long, and honestly I don't want to. I love the energy of my "normal" day-to-day and the life that Book + Bottle is taking on. I find that it's all balance if you can achieve that - the middle way. Not working all the time, not wintering all the time, but listening to our bodies and minds and the seasons and acting accordingly.
As we go into 2021 full of positive intentions of health and self care, I challenge you to do your own wintering this year. Work hard, play hard, and then, when you're ready, grab a good book and a blanket, snuggle up, and be still.
THE BOTTLE
To go with our theme of self care, we're picking the healthiest wine we know. Last January, we paired The Blue Zones Kitchen with a Sardinian wine called Cannonau. You can go back and read more about that pairing here, but we loved the idea of this wine so much that we wanted to give it another run. In short, Cannonau has more antioxidants - little chemicals that help our bodies fight off cancer-causing free radicals - than other wines. These extra antioxidants come from the very thick, dark skins of this mediterranean grape. Cannonau is a synonym for grenache if it's grown on the island of Sardinia. Sardinia is an island off the coast of Italy that is well known for having a population of people who frequently live healthily to one hundred years old or more. They attribute a daily glass of this wine, drunk with friends or family, to be one of the reasons for the Sardinians' health.
This month we've got Argiolas Costera Cannonau. The winery was founded in 1938 by Antonio Argiolas and was the first on the island to pursue quality over quantity, resulting in truly delicious wines. The wine is fresh tasting with pure tart and ripe red fruit flavor, with a balanced acidity, and a strength and richness that could only come from a warm coastal growing climate and deliberate care in the winemaking.
Even knowing that this wine is "healthier," we still encourage you to drink in moderation. A single glass of this is enough to get you through a chapter of Wintering while not spoiling your other new year goals.
Going into this new year is exciting and we are hopeful and encouraged that 2021 will certainly be better than 2020. I hope that this book + bottle pairing reminds you to keep a life of balance and care throughout your days, always knowing that you can return to the little delights of reading and sipping wine when it's time for you to do your own wintering.
Also, as we go into this new year, I want to hear what we can do to make your experience at Book + Bottle even better. What do you want to see in these pairings, in these posts, in the shop? I really want to know your thoughts so we can move into our next exciting phase with grace and intention. Email me at hello@bookandbottlestpete.com to share your thoughts! Thanks for being on this journey with us!