Vintage: A Novel

The “spellbinding debut” (Library Journal, starred review) about a food journalist’s desperate attempt to save his career—and possibly, his marriage—through an epic quest that leads him from Burgundy through Russia, tracking an infamous bottle of wine.

Good ingredients, an open heart, a dash of tenacity, and a pinch of courage...

Food journalist, wine connoisseur, and onetime bestselling writer Bruno Tannenbaum has long believed these are the elements of a full life. The rest will take care of itself. But lately, nothing’s going right for Bruno. His career is floundering, he’s separated from his wife drinking his way through a dwindling bank account, certain all that’s left of life is a downward slope into obscurity.

Then Bruno stumbles upon a clue leading to a “lost” wine vintage, one of the many bottles stolen and smuggled out of France during WWII, now worth a small fortune and sought after by wine collectors throughout the world. Finding this bottle could be the key to restoring Bruno’s career—maybe even writing his comeback novel. But his discovery is not a secret for long; word spreads, nefarious characters interested in the bottle start appearing at every turn, so Bruno scrapes together his final resources, calls in favors he may ultimately regret and sets off.

From a raucous wedding in Moldova to the rolling hills of Burgundy and the graying walls of a Russian prison, Vintage is a “delicious” (Chicago Tribune) food-filled debut about making one last effort to follow your dreams.