Things I Like - Books

We’ve had a subscription to Wine Spectator at the White House for about 15 years now. Some people use it as a guide or reference source for wine purchases – the Buying Guide in each issue that highlights new wines on the market and provides recommendations is highly respected.

I will usually flip through the guide but my interest is more toward the food and travel related articles (all related to wine, of course). We've used issues to plan several of our trips - they're very useful for both restaurant recommendations and suggestions for interesting and usually off the beaten track places to see.

So basically, an industry focused publication with some useful information and entertaining articles. But not a place where you would expect to find fiction.

Imagine my surprise when I started going through the November 15 issue that arrived this week. In addition to a feature on Alsace wines, an article explaining beef and wine pairings (not just any red for my Wagyu skirt steak, thank you very much) and a story on the Sebastiani family winery in Napa, there was a short story – Murder by Malbec.

In fact, it was more than a story. It was a murder mystery with embedded puzzles (all related to wine) that could be solved to figure out who killed Stanley Sour, the owner of Sour Grapes Winery. Plus it had some really fun comic book style art.

OK, so maybe not a work of fiction, but definitely something different for a somewhat stodgy magazine. I have no idea if this is a one-off type thing or if there are plans to introduce something new to the format. Not that I want to see a murder mystery or puzzle in every issue but an essay or opinion piece that isn’t reporting or ‘journalism’ would be a nice touch.

We’ll see – until then, I need to get back to my mystery. So far, my money is on Vin Corker, the director of bottling operations although I haven’t totally ruled out Ina Feil, the winery business manager…