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Reading Between the Wines: Just One Taste

Writer's picture: Allison SheardyAllison Sheardy

Welcome to a new (semi) regular series, Read Between the Wines, in which I review a book and suggest a wine pairing (it is a tough job but someone's gotta do it). I'm an avid reader, often reading one to two books a week. I mostly lean toward contemporary fiction, suspense, and, of course, stories that revolve around food and wine, both fiction and non.

Yes, we're back with author Lizzy Dent for her latest release, Just One Taste. What can I say? I'm a fan.

In this novel, main character and food critic Olive Stone is estranged from her chef/restaurateur father Nicky. When Nicky unexpected dies, he leave the restaurant to Olive -- with a few stipulations. She must embark on a multi-stop Italian trip to gather information and inspiration to finish Nicky's long awaited cookbook, and she has to go on the aforementioned trip with Nicky's sous chef, good looking Leo (must be tough, right).

From Amazon: "Olive Stone is about to spend four weeks in Italy with the most beautiful man she’s ever hated...She’s determined to sell the restaurant. Leo is determined to convince her not to. As they embark on four weeks in Italy, traveling from Sicily to Tuscany to Liguria, they’ll test each other as often as they test recipes. But the more time Olive and Leo spend together, the more undeniable their attraction grows. Olive finds herself wondering whether selling the restaurant might be running away, and what it might be like to try Just One Taste of Leo Ricci. Because he isn’t who she expected, and this trip might reveal more about who Olive is than she’s ready for."

The story was compelling and moved quickly, and I appreciated that there was a little more going on that originally meets the eye. Olive's relationships with her best friends, her mom, and her deceased father are all explored with a deft hand.

The book is full of vivid descriptions of the scenery the duo encounters, along with food -- at markets, cooking, and eating. You can almost taste the olive, oranges, fresh basil, tomatoes, and more. The reader feels immersed in Italian culture and lifestyle -- la dolce vita -- and hungry for more. Olive has an edge to her (be prepared for a lot of swearing) which made her an interesting character to see the world through. And, of course, Olive and Leo drink perhaps more than their fair share of wine, spirits, and cocktails, and I appreciated that Dent made sure to mention local wines and grape varieties throughout the book.

Which brings me to today's pairing suggestions. There was a rich array of possibilities for this one, being set in several different wine making regions throughout Italy. I decided to go with Sicily (more specifically, Mount Etna), because these wines continue to have a moment, and the book ends with a revisit to the area (no other spoilers, I swear) -- plus they are delicious. Located off the toe of Italy, Sicily is an important wine producing region in Italy – it is actually one of the largest wine producing areas in Italy, but historically has focused on inexpensive bulk wines. This is changing; now, the island is especially known for producing wines from unique indigenous grapes (including Nerello Mascalese, Nerello Cappuccio, Nocera, Grillo, Inzolia, Catarratto, and Nero d’Avola). Cerasuolo di Vittoria, situated on the southeastern coast is Sicily’s only DOCG so far; Terre Siciliane is the region-wide IGT title for Sicily. Mount Etna plays an important role in the soils and climate of Sicily. The vineyards in Etna are on mostly volcanic soils, and the wines often have a distinct ashy, smokey minerality to them (in a delicious way). Etna DOC is known for both red and white wines, often blends, with a few well regarded native grapes leading the way. For this pairing, we're going with 2019 Fattorie Romeo del Castello Allegracore Etna Rosso.



Made from  90% Nerello Mascalese, 10% Nerello Cappuccio, the grapes are farmed organically and the wine is fermented and aged in tank. This wine features a frehs herbal note, lots of red fruits (cherry, other berries), and nice smokey mineral note -- a great sense of terroir with this pour. Complex, with a bit of an edge, and a good thinking wine -- an excellent pairing for the nuances of the book!


Looking for more Lizzy Dent? Check out this post from last summer.


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