This Monday, we are staying in. In DC it will reach 94 degrees. Time for us to reach for the good wine…and a great book.

We first came across Alice Feiring a few years ago on a recommendation from Elisabeth Minchilli. She thinks about wine in much the same way we do: with a drive for the exceptional, small producer that has a story to tell. She is a strong proponent of wine transporting you to a place, and for the grapes tasting of the soil.

So this Monday, we are returning back to our bookshelf to take out her novel The Battle for Wine and Love: or How I Saved the World from Parkerization, and reacquaint ourselves with its cast of characters, and, more importantly, cast of wines.

If you feel like some shorter reading, she also has an excellent newsletter, called “The Feiring Line.” She claims it is the only newsletter that focuses solely on natural, organic and biodynamic wines from the ground up. Perfect for geek as well as the new enthusiast.

The perfect pairing for this reading? Plani Arche Grechetto, which comes from a wonderful biodynamic vineyard a few steps away from La Fattoria del Gelso in Cannara. This Grechetto is crisp and light (perfect for this hot day).  One sip reminds us of the dedication and care for the land that is distilled, captured, and contained in the bottle. Certainly a wine that tastes of the land that we occasionally call home. Alice would approve.

Ci Vediamo!

–Via Umbria