Bottoms up! There's no way to read Charles Blackstone's debut novel, Vintage Attraction, with its scrumptiously crafted details about the ins and outs of wine tasting, without craving a glass of fine vino and a hunk of aged cheese.
Peter Hapworth is an adjunct English professor in his late 30s who doesn't bother to read his students' papers and often assigns top marks to female students just for being pretty. Even with his parents still paying his credit card bills, he's an unapologetic cheapskate who never met a free buffet he didn't like and has, on occasion, passed out in his car.
But Hapworth's redemption comes in the form of a gorgeous, accomplished celebrity sommelier named Isabelle Conway. By some miracle, she falls hard for his pithy bon mots and they embark on an affair that's as uncertain as a bottle low-grade merlot. While it's intriguing to watch the ebb and flow of their relationship, the real star of the novel is the wine.
Blackstone brings out the flavor of something truly riveting as the tale pours through various wine tastings and winds through vineyards. (Blackstone is married to one of Chicago's master sommeliers, which lends credence to this fictional guided tour of all things wine.) Clearly, Vintage Attraction proves the maxim that "in wine there's truth," because it's spot-on with explanations of the many varietals in the fascinating world of wine. --Natalie Papailiou, author of blog MILF: Mother I'd Like to Friend