WineSpirit

Turnin' Happy Hour into Sippin' Time

Sippin' on Top of the World...Toasting Good Times and Better Days

If you love wine and the joy and connection that comes from sharing it with friends and family, this book is for you. Sippin’ on Top of the World is filled with 88 inspirational wine passages―“Sips”―describing benefits of wine in your lifestyle, in moderation and balance, inviting you to be in this moment: celebrating life, promoting healthy living, enhancing food, and engaging spiritual lessons from the vineyards. Many Sips include material for toasts, identified by bold italics, and questions inviting further reflection, conversation and questions of your own.

"Sippin' is a very unique and extraordinary book!" --Elliott Mackey, Publisher, The Wine Appreciation Guild

"A must read for anyone who has ever considered, or discussed, or argued the mysteries of life over a glass of wine." --Erik Lee Preminger, Author, My G-String Mother: at Home and Backstage with Gypsy Rose Lee

"I just finished reading "Sippin' on Top of the World" by David White. What a delicious pleasure. I've always loved wine but now I'll appreciate every sip of wine and life even more.

This is a thoughtful, moving and inspiring book that goes beautifully with food for thought. I intend to revisit it time and again.

Someone should bottle it."

--Ron Berman, Making a Living on Ideas

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“Each Sip can be savored alone over a glass of wine, or as part of a conversation
with friends. Regardless of how you use this book, it is a treasure you can return to
many times for wisdom, inspiration, and solace.”
--Liz Thach, Professor of Wine Business, Sonoma State University

“Lovers of wine and special times will savor this book of questions and strategies
for conquering the world, spiritually.”
--Charlie Johnston, VP, Morgan Stanley, Napa, Wine Grower

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“From before the beginning of history, our ancestors have raised cups of wine
and asked the Almighty to bless us and our families. This book offers delightful
insights into the continuing story of wine and its role in man’s relationship to life,
spirituality, and the universe. Salute!”
--Paul Wagner, CEO Balzac Communications, Instructor of Wine History, Napa Valley College

“I’ve never been attracted to the concept of spirituality, but this book offers an
approach that even I can appreciate. Having sampled a number of its ‘sips,’ I find
myself inspired to take more time to savor the goodness of wine — and life.”
--Betty Teller, writer

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“We all know the great benefit of Wine and the Spirituality to connect Human
Hearts. Helen Keller was asked, ‘It must be hard to be blind?’ She replied, ‘It
would be if I had no vision. We see with our hearts.’ This vision is David White’s
vision and my vision of life. L’Chaim!”
--Michael Pritchard, PBS host and friend

"What the world does not need is just another "wine book" - you know, recipes, food and wine pairings,varietals, vineyards, pretty pictures - you get the idea. This is a book about many of life's journeys with wine and the spiritual components that go with it for most of us who enjoy wine. You don't have to read the whole book to appreciate the nuggets within. It's a good read."

--Ronald Scharman, COO eWinery Solutions

"Thanks so much for the opportunity to peruse the book. Very well written and a fine addition to the literature in wine generally. There's plenty of "how to make it" books out there, and far too many "how to sniff and swirl" books, but a book on spirituality? I think this may be the first. Again well done, and we will look forward to the Sippin' party!"

--Sam Minner, Dean of Health Sciences & Education at Truman University

"David White notes that wine has been a tool since ancient times for marking occasions and making them sacred. Wine is spiritual not only because of alcohol's effect but because of the ways people ritualize and appreciate drinking it. Wine brings us into the moment, encourages us to notice small details: taste, color, smell, packaging... wine connects us to one another. And thus a good deal about connections, about mindfulness and living in the moment, and about spirituality can be learned from wine and observing the customs connected to wine.

This is White's central lesson, and it's delivered simply and gently, in smalls sips, as it were, in this book. Sippin on Top of the World is a collection of short mediations connecting wine (and all the ritual pleasures and fellowship that go with a good bottle) and spirituality (also rooted in ritual, in memory, and in camaraderie).

To someone with limited experience of either wine or spirituality, the book will not be intimidating. It seeks rather to debunk myths and to open the world of wine and of the spirit to anyone and everyone. To readers already passionate about wine, White's book will remind them of the great richness and variety connected to rituals of the vine.

White writes in an informal, conversational style that's easy to read, and he follows each "sip" (usually a mediation of about a page) with questions for dialog and space to make notes in the book.

The book feels a bit like a beginning... it invites meditation and reflection, but it hardly exhausts its subject. It is White's first book, however; so there may be more to come. Certainly as a tasty, complex, rich sip, this work whets the appetite!"

--Jeff Michels, English Instructor Contra Costa Community College

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"Wine really is a nexus that links us with nature and each other. Drawing us to the literal and figurative beauty of making and savoring wine, David White suggests that wine is about community - it emerges from creative and patient teamwork and finds its purpose fulfilled in helping to create moments that bond people in special ways - celebration, romance or reflection.

Many of us can appreciate David White's call to stop for a moment - step aside from our too busy, too frantically paced, stress-filled lives - and take time to sip a glass and talk with friends. This book sets forth a collection of "Sips" - observations matched with open-ended questions. These can be points to reflect upon individually or used as conversation starters. In this day of 140-character twitters, I appreciate the tips and encouragement to really converse with friends, new and old.

After reflecting upon the "Sips," I realized I was drawn to the Wine Country myself for many of the literal and metaphoric reasons David White points out. Foremost is the snapshop of beauty created by man working with nature to produce a product that is both pleasurable and a piece of art, ancient yet modern. By living here, one can take in the rhythm of the wine-making process from planting to vine maturity to pruning, crush, fermentation, storage and uncorking. Hidden behind the beauty and process are analogies for life lessons - the 88 "Sips" described in this book, presented with a challenge to not only ponder the ideas but to put metaphor into action. Like the writer, I too have experienced "Sippin' on top of the World" savoring a glass of wine with friends on top of a mountain peak just climbed!"

--Tim Noonan, WineSpirit member and friend

"Sippin' on Top of the World is an entirely different approach to wine-- it looks at the intersection of wine and spirituality. The approach is really not denominational or even overtly religious; David White aims to bring a spiritual awareness to the entire experience of wine--from growing and harvesting to the very act of drinking the wine and experiencing the complexity of sensations with it. And at the same time he shows how wine enhances the meaning of a special event even further.

There will probably be a lot of "a-ha!" moments for readers-- recognizing what they've already experienced themselves without being fully aware of it. Read this and you will find yourself being much more "in the moment" the next time you pick up a glass of wine."

--Mike Harris, WineSpirit member and friend

"As a winemaker, I am often reminded of the connection between wine, humanity and spirituality every day! As I drive through vineyards, pick a grape or watch the seasons change in the Napa Valley I frequently stop and reflect on my place in nature and my place in the world of wine.

How wonderful that David White has written this book to bring everyone (no matter where you live or work) a bit of the wonder and the beauty of wine. Though non-denominational (and not even really religious), the short written stories, or "sips," are sure to make you ponder "life the universe and everything" as you reflect on your glass of wines.

I really appreciate how Mr. White and his contributing authors invite us to make the everyday moments of our busy lives more meaningful and to seek out greater community and connection with our neighbors, whether in wine country or around the world."

--Alison Crowe, Winemaker

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"In the spirit of full disclosure... I am the contributor of three of the 88 "sips" in the book.
That said, I had no idea when I agreed to participate, just how this profound, yet simple little book would touch people's lives. When the UPS delivered mine, I poured a glass of wine, and opened the book at random to a sip. It took only a few minutes, to read the sip, but I found myself thinking about it for days.
This same exercise, when done in concert with one or more friends, gently leads you away from everyday superficial concerns, into a moment of "aha" awareness, wherein you discover something that you can actually put into practice, to elevate one or many single moments each day, to a spiritually nurturing level."

--Steven Russon, Former Head of Napa Tour Guide Guild, WineSpirit Advisory Board member

What a wonderful book to ponder life, joy and wine! I really enjoy reading the "sips" and relating them to my own life and dreams. While reading this book, I am also learning so much more about wine and its spiritual connections toward living a more fulfilling life through a more enlightened path. Thanks David White!

--Lynn Feingold Michalski, WineSpirit member and friend

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Wine is a connection to ourselves and to each other

"David White brings a message about 'living in community', celebrating our relationships and our blessings in his refreshing new book, Sippin' On Top of the World. Using the theme of wine as an experience that brings people together, David relates that wine also connects us to people of virtually all of the generations of human history! In his brief and readable 'sips' David tells us stories of how we can enjoy the present moment and be mindful of our higher purpose. Do we want to do things as we usually do, sometimes without really thinking, just out of habit? Perhaps. Or what would it be like to so something different in this moment? How would that be? He implicitly asks us how we truly want to be in the world-what we yearn for most as fellow travelers on planet Earth-guided by the wisdom, grace, and heart that is already in us if we would only pay attention."

--Doug Ramo, WineSpirit member and friend (editor's note: and inspiration behind Sip 82)

“These ‘Sips’ of wisdom from the WineSpirit community nourish us as they quietly guide us to a richer sense of self. Wine is an apt metaphor in the search for deeper meaning and fulfillment. The grape is crushed, fermented, and reborn as a lovely beverage able to develop and mature at a pace undreamt of by other agricultural products. So, too, we humans are shaped, broken and remolded by life and its endless circumstances. By example, wine brings us closer to the mystery of who we are.

“More often than not, the shared world we live in survives on fast food’ forms of wisdom that distract from our true selves. In many ways our spirit’s quest is to more fully understand who we are and our relationship to life. Reading these short communiqués from the vineyard front reminds us that taking the time to ask real questions supports our desire to know ourselves with greater clarity and compassion.”

--Burke Owens, Director of Communications, Bonny Doon Vineyard, Sommelier

“Within Biblical tradition, wine, like bread, is a quintessential food: a food for the body, a food for the soul. Our ancestors made it part of their most sacred moments, times set apart from the day-today world. A good wine, a good friend, a quiet moment: together, these essential components of our lives give life meaning. Americans tend to look at wine as something other than holy, a pleasure that’s all too secular. David White brings wine back to its true place, a place the ancients understood far better than we. So open a bottle and open this book: it will open your soul.”

--Jehon Grist, Ph.D. Executive Director, Lehrhaus Judaica