Walking through a wine store is becoming more and more like walking through a bookstore these days. Wine bottles increasingly feature colorful, whimsical, eye-catching art, with label descriptions that read more like short stories than mere tasting notes.
And now a new store in Berkeley has brought these two worlds together.
Book Society, the brainchild of Laura Guzman, is a combination bookstore and wine shop where customers can browse books and sip wine at the same time. The shop opened in December in a space formerly occupied by Bill’s Trading Post & Gem Gallery.
Guzman even offers book/wine pairings.
“We pair eight handpicked books with wines that complement their stories, making wine tasting fun, approachable, and a total conversation starter,” wrote Guzman in a social media post.
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This month’s selections include Jenny Albertini’s Decluttered: Mindful Organizing for Health, Home, and Beyond matched with Scribe Winery’s stripped down Sonoma Valley Chardonnay; Simon Parkin’s The Forbidden Garden: The Botanists of Besieged Leningrad and Their Impossible Choice paired with Farm Cottage Wine’s Santa Cruz Mountain Pinot Noir; and Krista Tippet’s self-help tome, Becoming Wise, about the mystery and art of living, paired with Leitz’s Eins Zwei Zero Blanc de Blancs, a non-alcoholic white wine (just in time for Dry January).
Customers can also sign up for book- and- wine subscriptions, which include a book, a bottle of wine, a “page and pour companion” tasting and reading guide, plus a tote bag to carry them all. Monthly packages are $59 per month or $660 for a year, while the “Bi-monthly Blend” package costs $69 every other month or $390 for the year.
Book Society also hosts events and gatherings, including several book clubs curated by the shop such as the WTF Did I Just Read?! Book Club, the Leading Ladies Book Club, the Secret Romantacy Fan Book Club, and the Cookbook Book Club. The store also offers space to private book groups complete with wine, snacks and comfortable seating.
And while books are on offer, Book Society is technically a bar, so readers must be at least 21 years of age to enter.
Book Society, 2945 College Ave., Berkeley. Phone: 707-297-9907. Hours: Tuesday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-8 p.m.; Friday & Saturday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Connect via Instagram and Facebook.
This post was originally published on here
