The Book
Patrick Radden Keefe's Say Nothing taught me just how much I didn’t know. I of course had heard about The Troubles in Northern Ireland, but I didn’t know who the players were, the root causes and events, and just how much it affected daily life for those who lived through it. The book was heartbreaking and absolutely fascinating, and sent me down a rabbit hole that had me buying 3 books on the subject and diving into a terrible part of history.
So, when I heard that he had a new book out, and one that focused on London’s criminal underworld, I had to read it. London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family’s Search for Truth begins with the death of a 19-year-old whose body is found in the Thames and expands into an investigation of organized crime in London. Now that I’m finished, I can say it's complicated in the best way—with so many people and histories to follow it can get a little confusing—but the way Radden Keefe weaves in history and how economic forces and politics can shape a city… it’s immensely fascinating from start to finish. So much so I was reading it in a variety of bars while on a solo vacation.
The Pairing
New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc
Why It Works
This book asks a lot of you, you have to pay attention to the big cast and some wildly tangled histories, and I didn't want the wine to add to that heaviness of subject. Sauvignon Blanc gives you contrast instead: it has bright acidity, fresh citrus flavors, and plenty of energy to cut through a dense, dark read. New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc can be especially vivid and refreshing (it’s not a wine that makes you work for the aromas and flavors) making it the kind of wine you can come back to between particularly intense chapters. Sometimes the best book and wine pairing comes from balance rather than similarity, and London Falling is exactly the kind of book that calls for a little lightness alongside it.
The Bottle
Try: Borthwick Estate 2025 Paddy Borthwick Sauvignon Blanc (Wairarapa, New Zealand). I actually discovered this bottle while I was on said vacation, which made it an easy choice for this pairing. New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc has a reputation for being insanely green—think grassy, vegetal flavors that can occasionally veer into asparagus territory—but this one goes in a much fruitier direction. It's full of grapefruit, nectarine, citrus, and mango, with the freshness you expect from Sauvignon Blanc.This is exactly the kind of wine London Falling needs beside it: an easy, delicious wine for a heavy, dark book.
Alternate: Look for any fruit-forward New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. For this pairing, I want the fruit: look for descriptive words like passionfruit, grapefruit, peach, or other tropical and citrus flavors on the back label. You might still get some green, vegetal notes, but you want something that describes itself as fruity, not so much herbaceous.
This is one pairing. There's a new one every week, straight to your inbox, if you want more.
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 →]