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 Lisboa white blend that has mineral notes and a fresh cool taste … the type of wine you could enjoy at the beach. The grapes used in making this wine are Vital, Fernão Pires and Arinto, just to name a few of the 145 grape varieties in Portugal.

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.