The launch of venerable literary magazine Granta’s latest issue – the Best of Young Spanish-Language Novelists – has been sponsored by Wines of Spain.
The launch of venerable literary magazine Granta’s latest issue – the Best of Young Spanish-Language Novelists – has been sponsored by Wines of Spain.
The Spanish trade association in London is taking care of the bar at next week’s launch, while wines for a tasting to accompany the readings have been chosen, by Daniel Illsley of Theatre of Wine in Greenwich (and very soon, in Archway), to loosely coincide with the birthplace of the writers.
Not all the countries serving up writers on December 3 are major wine producers, so there will also be Peruvian canapés in honour of Santiago Roncagliolo and Colombian chocolate to celebrate the birthplace of Andrés Felipe Solano.
Six of Granta’s 22 featured writers will be reading, mainly from novels-in-progress. All are Spanish-speaking men in their mid 30s, but their backgrounds vary almost as much as their birthplaces, from a Spanish art critic (Javier Montes) to a Peruvian screenwriter, playwright and author of a banned history of the Cuban mafia (Roncagliolo) and an Argentinian literature professor and writer of short stories (Andrés Neuman).
Two of the writers who will be present, Andrés Neuman and Matías Néspolo, are Argentinians and will be accompanied by The Blend 2007 from Finca Sophenia – a Decanter World Wine Awards winner.
Neuman loves Malbec, he told Decanter.com. ‘It is a grape with a potent, melancholic poetry.’
But the novelist also made clear he is not traditionalist, likening some Riojas to certain best-selling writers: ‘in both cases, international fame pushes price above actual value.’
The wines chosen in celebration of the homeland of Madrileños Andrés Barba and Javier Montes in fact don’t include any Riojas.
The Spanish wines are Pazo Señoráns 2009 Albariño from Rías Baixas in Galicia, Lasendal 2008, a Garnacha/Syrah from the Capçanes cooperative in Montsant, and Ars Nova’s Tandem 2005 Tempranillo/Cabernet /Merlot from Navarra.
Written by NIna Caplan
