BOOKCLUB NOTES: Lázár by Nelio Biedermann

This was another interesting discussion! The room was fairly split and we scored 3.2 ⭐️

THE BOOK: There is no denying that the author is a talent and lots of us are keen to see what he writes next. The plot was interesting and shone a light on a part of history that many of us didn’t know much about. On the other hand, we found the multiple characters and time periods confusing. We wanted more depth from those characters but felt like we spent little time with them. The characters were flawed and that frustrated some of us, but they were possibly of their time too and showed us that some situations and people are just morally grey. We talked a lot about family dynamics and how trauma impacts us. The book sparked conversations about class and whether some people are protected from such trauma.

We agreed that we would read another book from this author, but we weren’t totally convinced by the delivery here. Their young age meant we were more forgiving and it did lead to a very interesting chat!

THE WINE: we couldn’t pass up on the opportunity to pair two wines from one of our favourite winemakers. István Bencze is a pioneer of natural winemaking in Hungary. His vineyards are situated on the Szent György hill, in Badacsony near Lake Balaton. He works meticulously in the vineyard, harvesting at multiple times in order to achieve the right balance in the wine. We drank Gemini II from 2015 which is an elegant yet powerful sparkling Pinot Noir, brimming with stone fruits and mineral notes. This was a firm favourite on both nights. Wine number two was also a big hit. Due to the heat we chilled the Autochton 2022 and it was a real delight. The glass was bursting with raspberries, strawberries and sour cherries. A sherberty note made for a super refreshing sip.

Looking forward to seeing lots of you at the next one!