All the Pinot Noir Feels, None of the Heaviness
The Book:
Abby Jimenez has this way of making you laugh right before she absolutely wrecks you emotionally, and Say You'll Remember Me is no exception. Samantha and Xavier have one of those first dates that's almost too good—and then Samantha moves 2,000 miles away to help care for her mom, who has early-onset dementia. It starts as a swoony contemporary romance and turns into something much bigger: family, caregiving, memory, and what happens when you meet exactly the right person at exactly the wrong time. This was our first-ever Book Club pick, and it set the bar high.
The Pairing:
Rosé of Pinot Noir (Paso Robles)
Why It Works:
This book needed a wine that could do two things at once: stay light enough for the romance, but hold enough depth for everything underneath it. Rosé of Pinot Noir does exactly that. Pinot brings more delicate red fruit and a little more complexity than your average breezy rosé; keeping it dry keeps everything bright instead of syrupy. That's very Abby Jimenez—funny and swoony enough to keep you flying through pages, with a lot going on underneath. And yes, the pink doesn't hurt when you're pairing wine with a love story.
The Bottle:
My pick: One Stone Rosé of Pinot Noir, Ancient Peaks Winery (Paso Robles), $20. It's 100% Pinot Noir grown in southern Paso Robles and along California's Central Coast, making it dry, crisp, and fresh, with strawberry, peach, and clementine alongside a stony mineral note. Easygoing without being simple. There's also a story behind the bottle that fits this one perfectly: One Stone celebrates women who "move mountains, one stone at a time," and a portion of every bottle sold supports Dream Big Darling, a nonprofit that mentors the next generation of women in wine and spirits. For a novel where love shows up alongside the very real work of caring for the people you love, that felt like exactly the right bottle.
Alternate: Any dry Rosé of Pinot Noir with real fruit and enough acidity to keep it food-friendly rather than sweet.
This was our very first Book Club pick! If you want in on the next one, that's what Book Club is for.
About Erin Kirschenmann
Erin Kirschenmann is the founder of Novel Pairings and Managing Editor at Wine Business Monthly. She holds a WSET Diploma, teaches at Napa Valley Wine Academy, and was named to Beverage Dynamics' 40 Under Forty in 2025—but mostly, she just really loves matching a good book to the right glass of wine. Every month, Novel Pairings members get a new pairing like this one, plus the book club, playlists, and community to go with it. [Learn more →]
