The Vintage Caper

Before I cooked, I read. And I read a lot. As I kid, when I finished all the Nancy Drew books in our little neighborhood library, I moved on the the Hardy Boy series (hey, it was a small library) just to have something to read.

Readers fall into two catergories ... they either focus on a specific genre like science fiction or murder mysteries or romance novels or they follow a specific writer. I am the latter ... except for the once in a while cheesy paperback romance to pass the time on a long flight. Through the years, I've read Ann Rice (vampire series), John Grisham (A Time to Kill was the best), Dan Brown (he uses the same formula for each book) and of course J.K. Rowling!

About 13 - 14 years ago, I discovered Peter Mayle who writes about life in Provence. His books are a magical combination of travel, cooking and wine ... three of my favorite things in life. I started with "A Year in Provence" in which he descibes his first year living in a little town in Provence ... each month its own chapter that describes in glorius detail the food they ate, the wine they drank, the season's festivities, the changing weather and the nuances of their neighbors. His next book, "Toujours Provence", was a collection of short stories about specific people or events in his day to day life including buying truffles from "Mr X" and learning to appreciate pastis.

A few years ago, he started writing fiction in the form of longer novels. Still set in the south of France, with the food and wine theme running throughout, these books centered around a simple mystery that usually involved a hint of romance. For me, each book was a mini-vacation in which he took me on a scenic tour of Provence, perusing the menus of the region's Michelin starred restaurants and local truck stops and getting a whiff of the finest wines in the world.

Needless to say, like a schoolgirl waiting for the next Twilight movie, I was tickled that he would be publishing a new book this year. With the date marked on my calendar, I waited paitently for "The Vintage Caper" to arrive. I tried to pace myself, but in the end, I blew threw it. Mostly set in Marseilles, it follows the theft of $3M of rare French wine from a collector in LA to a prominent businessman whose home overlooks the old port in Marseilles. There's a quick stop in Paris for clues (and lunch and dinner), followed by day trips to the finest wine chateaus in Bordeau and of course lots of fresh seafood in Marseilles served with local rose wines!

I hated for it to end. It'll be at least another two years until the next escape!