How do you know when the Wine Conversation has started in earnest and joined the mainstream? Some tests of mine would be (in no particular order):

• Wine is the main object in a reality TV show (check! Oz & James took care of that)
• Wine is the key plot driver in a big movie (check! Sideways & A Good Year, plus Mondovino etc.)
• Wine becomes the subject of a daytime TV Quiz Show
• Wine gets mentioned on The Archers (I happened to hear them mention facebook some months back – I knew then it had “arrived”)
• Two ‘blokes’ in a pub ‘come to blows’ over a wine
• You can discuss the wine you drank last night with your barber, and he gives you new suggestions
• Wine becomes the focus of a pulp fiction novel (check!)

I was in the checkout queue in the supermarket the other day and as I waited I was entertained by the image of an attractive woman carrying a champagne bottle. Nothing particularly unusual about that except that it was the cover of one of those mass market novels, and it was called “Vintage”.

I decided to explore further and read the back cover.

“Three women who dare to make it in a man’s world. One sparkling prize.“I was intrigued.

“Competing to produce the world’s best sparkling wine, the three women are swept into a world of feuds, back-stabbing, sabotage and seduction. Have they got what it takes to survive?“

Ooh! They joined the wine trade. How exciting! (only joking … no seduction around here that I know about).

Quite apart from the correct use of the term sparkling wine, I was quite taken aback that wine should be quite such a central theme of such a book. I guess I should really have bought the book to learn more, but I couldn’t bring myself to put it in the basket. However, if you are intrigued, you can check out the site here and even buy it on Amazon for £1.99.

How much more “popular” can you get?