July 2018 Reading & Tasting

THE WINE:

Our July 2018 selection comes from Kortney Lawlor (pictured below), the founder of Wild Common Wines and Spirits, a cozy bottle shop in Andes, New York, filled with unique organic, biodynamic, and natural wines. Kortney choseItalian Rosato, a chill-able red that bridges the gap between the ubiquitous summer rosé and something with a bit more structure. 

"Rostatos come in a range of colors, but tend to be on the darker side of the pink spectrum, The color comes from the amount of skin contact the wine has while fermenting. The more skin contact, the bolder and more complex the wine will be. However, color has nothing to do with sweetness, so you won't have any white zin flashbacks!" Kortney said. 

This will be a fun way to challenge your preconceived notions about wine. I tasted Kortney's pick last night and while it was sweet on the nose, like a strawberry ice cream cone, it was super dry on the palate. Try this one with pizza. 

THE BOOK:
We're getting into the thick of summer now, and I think we need a fun mystery to accompany our beach trips, lake house escapes and our slightly chilled Italian wine,  so I selected The Last Equation of Isaac Severy by Nova Jacobs, pictured below. It's a suspenseful "novel in clues," about a mathematician who leaves his last equation to his granddaughter, Hazel, before he dies. I love the idea of a woman-centered detective story (and author), since we typically see a superhero/genius man who solves the murder of a beautiful model, or something like that. Do you remember the childhood book, The Westing Game? This is supposed to be an adult version of the story.