I Swore I Was Done with This Fantasy Series. But Then I Poured a Cabernet.
The Book
I love a good series. I really do. But I’ll be honest, I HATE reading them while they’re still being released. (I was tricked into reading the Empyrean series, thinking it was complete.)
Metal Slinger by Rachel Schneider came highly recommended. I loved it. I was in it. And then it ended with a twist so wildly unexpected and highly uncharacteristic that I, kid you not, threw my Kindle across the living room in aggravation and boldly declared that I would never start an unfinished series again.
Well…Light Wielder, the second book in the Fire & Metal series, came out and here I was, debating whether I picked it up or not.
Early reviews (and my sisters-in-law) convinced me to give the series another chance, so I went back in…but with a LOT more wine this time. The story picks up after that infamous cliffhanger and diving straight back into a world of elemental magic, shifting loyalties, romance, and some very complicated questions about who can actually be trusted.
The Pairing
Napa Valley Cabernet Blend
Why It Works
Big fantasy worlds call for big wines with layers, and I needed one that would stand up to a series that had me reeling.
A Cabernet-based blend has the structure and dark fruit you want for a story packed with power struggles, danger, and high stakes, while the other grapes in the blend (like Merlot) bring softness, fragrance, and complexity.
That makes it a particularly good match for a book like Light Wielder, where nothing is quite as it seems. There's power here, but the interesting part is everything happening around and underneath it. The best Napa Cabernet blends work the same way.
The Bottle
Try: Quintessa 2023 (Rutherford, Napa Valley, California). Quintessa makes just one estate wine each vintage, blending Cabernet Sauvignon with other Bordeaux varieties grown across its Rutherford estate. The result is a Napa red with plenty of depth and structure, but what I love about it is that power isn't the whole story; there's elegance and layer after layer to discover.
I recently had the chance to visit Quintessa and spend the afternoon with winemaker Rebekah Wineburg—who also happens to be a Novel Pairings member!—talking about soil and what makes a vineyard site extraordinary. Seeing the estate made the wine feel even more special, and it reminded me just how nuanced Napa Valley Cabernet can be.
Alternate: Look for a Cabernet-based Napa Valley red blend. Quintessa is very much a splurge bottle, so you absolutely do not need it to make this pairing work. Look for a Napa Valley red that blends Cabernet Sauvignon with grapes such as Merlot, Cabernet Franc or any other variety. Rather than choosing the biggest Cabernet on the shelf, look for words like layered, elegant or fresh.
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