The Secret History and Santorini Assyrtiko
The Secret History
Donna Tartt, 1992
Santorini Assyrtiko
Santorini, Greece
Ancient Greek intensity for a campus thriller obsessed with the classics.
Why it works
Tartt’s students are consumed by ancient Greek — so drink something genuinely ancient and Greek. Assyrtiko is grown on Santorini’s volcanic soil, where vines are woven into low basket shapes to protect them from the wind.
The wine is steely and intense, with lemon, saline minerality and a firm, almost severe structure. It is cerebral and a little dangerous — very much in the spirit of Julian’s classroom.
Also try
A mainland Greek Assyrtiko is softer and more affordable.
In the same spirit
A Moveable Feast
Ernest Hemingway, 1964
Fleurie (Beaujolais cru)
Beaujolais, France
A café carafe of Paris, hungry and happy.
Rebecca
Daphne du Maurier, 1938
Crozes-Hermitage
Northern Rhône, France
Dark, peppery and a little haunted — like Manderley after midnight.