Skip to main content

If You Love Wine, This Post is for You

Who doesn’t love a bottle of good wine?  Today’s Wednesday feature book is all about good tipple and how to enjoy it. The author has appeared on Daily (w)rite, and I’m excited to welcome comedy writer, performer, and most importantly, wine lover, Alicia Bien to Amlokiblogs today.
 
 Elevator pitch:
Do you like wine but don’t know anything about it except it’s 1) Alcoholic and 2) Wet? 

Alicia
Bien shares her wines stories–from “Drinking Alone” to
“Zinfandel”–highlighting the highs and lows of Alicia’s own evolution
as a wine drinker from novice to—many bottles later—an expert wine
bottle opener!
Teaser Excerpt:

“I brought the wine you asked for,” my husband said setting the bottle on the kitchen counter.

“Excellent,” I said rubbing my hands together with anticipation.
“It’s young.”
“Excellent.”
“So young that when I bought it they were still stomping the grapes.” “Excellent!”

My husband
looked at me as if I’d turned into Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde and
Frankenstein, simultaneously. My spouse deserved an explanation as to
why I wanted one young bottle of wine, an eye of newt and toe of frog.
But there wasn’t time to explain, I had to begin my experiment.

Back
in the Middle Ages people believed in vampires, dragons and alchemy.
Alchemy, in case your pre-Renaissance history is a little rusty, is the
proto-science of transforming everyday objects into super fabulous
things. Alchemist experiments included turning nickel into gold, turning
liquid gold into the fountain of youth and turning $5 on Kickstarter
into a million bucks. While our Middle Ages’ brethren were unsuccessful
with their gold and fountain of youth projects, their descendants are
making a mint on Kickstarter.

All this
to say that I, too, was taking a page from our culture’s collective
alchemist past to turn something ho-hum into something howdy doody
dandy! My experiment specifically entailed turning a young bottle of Cab
into an older, refined bouteille of Cabernet Sauvignon, s’il vous plait.

I opened the recently purchased bottle of Cab and grabbed my empty decanter. Decanting a young wine is a one-step process. 

——
Buy on Amazon.
—-

If you’re an author and would like your book excerpt featured,
drop me an introductory mail with a link to your book at  atozstories
at gmail dot com. I’m now accepting submissions for features in January.
Damyanti Biswas

Damyanti Biswas is the author of You Beneath Your Skin and numerous short stories that have been published in magazines and anthologies in the US, the UK, and Asia. She has been shortlisted for Best Small Fictions and Bath Novel Awards and is co-editor of the Forge Literary Magazine. Her literary crime thriller series, the Blue Mumbai, is represented by Lucienne Diver from The Knight Agency. Both The Blue Bar and The Blue Monsoon were published in 2023.

I appreciate comments, and I always visit back. If you're having trouble commenting, let me know via the contact form, or tweet me up @damyantig !

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

20 Comments

  • Not much of a Wine drinker, but starting an experimental tryst with it, from the Classic Single Malts.. Will give the book a shot.. At least might help appearing intellectual 🙂

    • Hi Rajesh,
      Thanks for your comment! Whiskey is a wonderful introduction to wine, in fact, your whiskey tasting skills will benefit your palate when you taste wine. Here's hoping you read it and appear "intellectual" but more importantly, that you have fun with wine. I'm envious that you're learning about wine now! What a fabulous wine journey you are embarking on! Enjoy it! Best wishes,
      –Alicia

  • klahanie says:

    Right then, my eagerly anticipated comment has finally arrived, I state ever so modestly.

    Greetings Alicia and hey there, Damyanti. I shall duly recommend this book to my wine drinking friends. As for me, I'm way below legal drinking age. Note I shared this posting, even on Farcebook!

    Gary 🙂

    • Hi Gary!
      Thanks for reading, your comment and your Facebook post! I appreciate all of them especially the latter since you can't even drink yet. The fun thing about wine is it encompasses so many aspects of life–food drink, geography, language, history, etc. If you like any of these things, you'll like wine. Even if it is still just the IDEA of wine without its consumption. Thank you! Enjoy the weekend!
      –Alicia

  • Kelly Steel says:

    Looks great. I will read this.

    • Hi Kelly,
      Thanks for reading and for your comment! It's great to meet other lovers of wine and books! I'd love to hear what you think of the book after having read it! Have a great day!
      –Alicia

  • Sounds like a great book. I'm adding to my to read list. Thanks for posting about it.

    • Hi Romance Reader,
      Thanks for reading and your comment! I'm glad you like wine and laughing, too! It tells me I've got company! Have a great day!
      –Alicia

  • Well I have this wonderful book and I love it. I enjoy red wine but I've always stayed close to the ones I'm familiar with but this book has peaked my interest for exploring many new wines. It's a great book and would make a fantastic hostess gift. I have mine on Kindle but is it going to be available in print?
    Many thanks,
    Sharm

    • Hi Sharm!
      Thanks for reading my book! And for being a fellow wine drinker! Yes, right now the book is available as a Kindle but in two weeks it will be available in paperback. That's when it gets real–holding the paper version in your hands! Thanks for reading! Have a great day!
      –Alicia

  • DMS says:

    This book sounds like fun! I love wine and will have to pick this one up. 🙂 Thanks for the introduction!
    ~Jess

    • Hi Jess,
      Thanks for reading and your comment. You say you like wine? Well, I like you already! It's available in eBook form now and will be available as a paperback in two weeks at Amazon. Enjoy your day! Cheers!
      –Alicia

  • That cover is hilarious Alicia! I heard about converting cheap wine into good one, but always wondered if it works. A great teaser. Thanks for hosting this Damyanti!

    • Hi Maurice,
      Thanks for reading and your comment. I'm glad you like the cover! With decanting you can make young wine older and better. It works! As for cheaply made wine, that's very good for cooking! Enjoy your day!
      –Alicia

  • She certainly looks happy about her wine on the cover!

    • Hi Alex,
      Thanks for reading and your comment. I confess: wine and writing make me very happy, thank you very much. Enjoy your day!
      –Alicia

  • I'm not into wine but I bet Alicia will find loads of fans.

    • Hi Sheena-kay,
      Thanks for reading and your comment. What I love about wine is how it encompasses so many things–food, drink, geography, travel, good times, chemistry, weather, vacation, etc. There's so much to wine. As to your comment, I hope I will find loads of fans. I can't be the only one ga-ga for vino! Enjoy your day!
      –Alicia

  • Hi Damyanti, Many thanks for stopping by my blog. Lovely to have met you, I've enjoyed my visit to Amlokiblogs. PW