The Lost Vintage

ΓÇ£If you enjoyed SarahΓÇÖs Key and Kristin HannahΓÇÖs The Nightingale,then this wonderful book by Ann Mah is for you.ΓÇ¥ — Tatiana de Rosnay Sweetbitter meets The Nightingale in this page-turning novel about a woman who returns to her familyΓÇÖs ancestral vineyard in Burgundy and unexpectedly uncovers a lost diaryan unknown relativeand a secret her family has been keeping since World War II. To become one of only a few hundred certified wine experts in the worldKate must pass the notoriously difficult Master of Wine examination. SheΓÇÖs failed twice before; her third attempt will be her last chance. Suddenly finding herself without a job and with the test a few months awayshe travels to Burgundy to spend the fall at the vineyard estate that has belonged to her family for generations. There she can bolster her shaky knowledge of Burgundian vintages and reconnect with her cousin Nico and his wifeHeatherwho now oversee day-to-day management of the grapes. The one person Kate hopes to avoid is Jean-Luca talented young winemaker and her first love. At the vineyard houseKate is eager to help her cousin clean out the enormous basement that is filled with generations of discarded and forgotten belongings. Deep inside the cellarbehind a large armoireshe discovers a hidden room containing a cotsome Resistance pamphletsand an enormous cache of valuable wine. Piqued by the secret spaceKate begins to dig into her familyΓÇÖs historyΓÇöa search that takes her back to the dark days of World War II and introduces her to a relative she never knew existeda greatΓÇôhalf aunt who was a teenager during the Nazi occupation. As she learns more about her familythe line between resistance and collaboration blursdriving Kate to find the answers to two crucial questions: Whoexactlydid her family aid during the difficult years of the war? And what happened to six valuable bottles of wine that seem to be missing from the cellarΓÇÖs collection?