Sip of the Day

An easy-to-digest book with bite-sized chapters, “Having and Being Had” by Eula Biss examines big topics in a really approachable way. She ponders consumers, money, capitalism, what it all means and how we take part in it, every day; she looks at her own sometimes hypocritical stance and causes you to do the same. It’s like talking to a friend about it! She brings up the difference between having versus consuming. Wine sits right between the two: you buy it and hold onto it, out of reluctance to open a special bottle when it’s not the right time yet, or you keep it as an investment (something else she touches on); or, you choose to drink it, consume it. So I chose this beautiful bottle of Château La Nerthe Châteauneuf-du-Pape Rouge to sip with the book. It’s the kind of wine—I know myself—that I’d keep holding onto until the “right moment,” which will never seem to come around! But although it has incredible potential to age, it is also meant to be consumed and enjoyed, so I opened and savored it, like the book.