Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge. So, have you read THE BOOKS yet? Yes, I’m talking about the book series that people only whisper about, “Fifty Shades of Grey.”

The startling book and now movie phenomenon also has spawned a red and white wine called Red Satin and White Silk completely endorsed by author E.L. James.

When presented with the two wines I couldn’t help but give an uncomfortable giggle and painful groan as I expected a pretty pedestrian wine that was only capitalizing on the enormous popularity of the book and the highly anticipated upcoming movie release. I was actually pleasantly surprised by what was in the bottle.

With a little research I found that author E.L. James is not only a wine aficionado but also participated in the blending of the wines herself with Tim Thornhill owner of the Mendocino Wine Company and winemaker Mark Beaman. There are many references to wine (some of them very famous wines) throughout the book series and when asked if she had researched wines for the books she stated that she drinks them and chose to name some of her favorites in the books. One might ask if she considers wine her guilty pleasure much like many of her readers consider her books?