Top Cellars

Just like an excellent wine, a great book can be complex, earthy, and rich—telling a tale all its own. Here, Thomas Wright, owner of Battery Park Book Exchange & Champagne Bar, shares his notes on matching words and wine. Whether comparing complexities or selecting the drink of an author’s heyday, there’s a match to be enjoyed.

Fred Chappell
2 Cocky Sisters
Canton-born author Fred Chappell is among Wright’s favorite authors. “When I read his sentences, I have to stop and appreciate them before I can read more.” Wright suggests 2 Cocky Sisters red blend as a complement to Chappell’s work for its earthiness and eclectic blend of grapes—and because this is the wine the author ordered the last time he stopped in.
$6 glass, $18 bottle

F. Scott Fitzgerald
Heidsieck & Co. Monopole Champagne
The excesses of the ’20s are synonymous with Fitzgerald and seem best expressed with Champagne—sparkling and effervescent. Though the author’s stint in Asheville wasn’t always easy going, Gatsby surely would have appreciated the elegance of this choice. (Interesting fact: This was the official Champagne of the Titanic.)
$15 glass, $49 bottle

Thomas Wolfe
Hope & Grace Cabernet Sauvignon
For Wright, Wolfe’s complex writing style brings to mind the cabernets of California—“big beefy wines you feel like you can chew into,” though he suspects the author would have been drinking the cheaper stuff given his economic circumstances. He selected Hope & Grace’s Cabernet Sauvignon, which he describes as a “big boy” wine.
$72 bottle