Reading Between the Wines

Taking us back into 1942 France during the German occupation, this historical novel by Kristin Harmel was published in 2020. Eva Traube and her mother were escaping Poland through France to Switzerland after her father was sent to Auschwitz. Eva assisted a French underground forgery operation by creating new names and papers for children smuggled into Switzerland. Within encoded text, she and fellow forgery expert Remy documented the “lost names” of the children in a book. In 2005 an 86-year-old Eva returns to Berlin to find the book and encounters an old friend. With a nod to the French/Switzerland border where most of the novel took place, we enjoyed a white alpine wine from Famille Richel, made from the unique Jacquère grape.

In this 2021 novel by Allison Larkin we follow the story of April Sawicki, a young songwriter and waitress born in a small town in New York. Abandoned by her mother and mistreated by her father, she left her cafe job at age 16 to look for a better life. From New York to Florida to North Carolina, April assembles her own family that she always wanted. We enjoyed a Dr. Konstantin Frank semi-dry Riesling. In 1958, Dr. Frank planted the first vinifera vines in New York and was instrumental in New York planting and selling wine grapes.

Chris Pavone’s 2022 novel is an international thriller set in Portugal. Newlyweds Ariel Price and John Wright are combining a honeymoon with his consulting appointments in Lisbon. The storyline centers around Ariel’s desperate search for her husband and the bureaucratic red tape she goes through to be able to provide the ransom. As Ariel uses her past encounters to finance the ransom, some surprising secrets are revealed. The book is intriguing and hard to put down as we discover more information and have more questions. The wine we are enjoying is a 2021 Quinta de São Francisco Branco, a Lisboa white blend from the Óbidos DO. It has mineral notes and a fresh cool taste… the type of wine you could enjoy at the beach or by the pool.

Spare gives us an intimate look into the personal life of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex. Broken into three parts, his candid self-examination offers insights into the Royal Family and America’s fascination with them. The loss of his mother as a child of 12 deeply affected him. As a “spare” entity to his family, he chose a military path at age 21. His experiences while serving in South Africa were transformative. The third part of the book describes his life with Meghan and the reasons they fled from Harry’s home country. Honoring his time in South Africa, we taste Ken Forrester’s 2022 Petit Chenin Blanc.

The 2021 novel is the fictionalized story of Belle da Costa Green, a woman of color who “passed” as white in high society in the early 1900s. Serving as J.P. Morgan's personal librarian, Green acquired rare manuscripts and artifacts from around the world, despite her struggles against racial inequality and injustice. Her passion for enriching J.P. Morgan's collection was instrumental in the opening of the J.P. Morgan Library in New York City. Green also savored several glasses of wine from Burgundy, so we enjoy a 2021 Joseph Drouhin Bourgogne Rouge as we explore the basics of this revered wine region.

This enjoyable novel’s theme presents the discrepancies and challenges for professional women in the 1950s and 1960s. The main character is Elizabeth Zott, a chemist who is released from her doctoral degree and fired from a scientific institute. Follow her as she negotiates friendships, falls in love, has a daughter, and stars in a television cooking show. We enjoy a 2018 Inglenook Cabernet Franc as we delve into a discussion on (almost) everything you ever wanted to know about the components and chemistry of wine.

What happened to Agatha Christie during the eleven days she disappeared in December 1926? Writer Nina de Gramont creatively interprets the missing days in her 2022 novel. Agatha leaves home when husband Archie says he wants to marry his mistress Nan O’Dea. Inspector Frank Chilton searches and finds Agatha after she meets Finbarr, who is in love with Nan. Flashbacks take us to Nan’s time in a Catholic home for unwed mothers where the women were treated horribly. The book’s last chapters reveal new love, old enemies and reconciliation between two very strong women. We selected a 2021 Domaine de Fontsainte red blend to savor as we discovered the amazing history of Southern French wines.

On October 30, 2022, Jen Brotherhood, a successful lawyer living in Liverpool, witnesses her son Todd committing a murder. The Garda are called, and he is arrested. The next morning, Jen finds herself back in time before the murder has happened. She then is able to time-travel back as far as 2002 to gain clues to explain the October 30 circumstances. In the present day, she lives with her husband Ryan, who previously was undercover as Kelly, investigating Joseph and his crime family’s car theft operation. As the story unfolds, enjoy an English sparkling wine! We drank a 2018 Gusborne Brut, made from traditional champagne grapes.

When Jess heads to Paris to meet her half brother Ben, she finds an empty apartment and a building full of neighbors. Antoine is mean, dark and brooding. Jacques and Sophie own a wine distribution business and seem to run the show. Mimi is obsessed with Ben. Nick’s friendship was the whole reason Ben even moved into the apartment in the first place. Where is Ben? Who has reason to want him gone? Jess is desperate for answers, but she doesn’t speak the language and doesn’t know who to trust. While Jess gathers the clues together, let’s head to the Loire River and enjoy a 2019 Thierry Germain Saumur-Champigny, mon amis. When you open the bottle, you’ll smell fresh violets, spice, currants and a soupçon of Dr. Pepper? Mais, oui! Upon tasting this lovely red, you are met with the tartness of a berry jam, ideally suited to a meal of mushroom soup or some charcuterie. Bon appetit!