Book of the Month: The Vintage Caper, by Peter Mayle
Ever since I first visited Provence 34 summers ago, it has held a special place in my heart and head: the glorious art of the Musée Matisse in Nice, a robust Pommard under the stars in Villefranche–sur–Mer, a perfectly poached sea bass on the terrace of La Colombe d'Or in St–Paul–de–Vence. For a young impressionistic American, Provence was a portal to heaven.
One man who has passed this portal many times is Peter Mayle, the British writer who has been celebrating the pleasures of Provence in seductive prose since the mega–best–selling A Year in Provence was published two decades ago. This tradition flourishes anew in his latest Provençal picaresque, The Vintage Caper, the tale of a multi–million–dollar heist of French wines from a collector in Hollywood and the efforts of an American corporate lawyer turned wine connoisseur and private investigator to retrieve them.
These efforts lead first to Paris (with delicious stops at the Café Marly and the Cigale Récamier), then to an in–the–field education among the storied vineyards of Bordeaux (where an astute and attractive French female colleague is added to his team) and finally to Provence and especially Marseille. As our protagonists track the precious bottles, the trail leads—naturellement! —through a succession of excellent repasts and leisurely ambles, which Mayle depicts with painterly ease and signature savoir vivre. He even weaves in a recipe—for lightly grilled, fennel–flavored sea bass, of course.
The portrait of Marseille is a special treat. Through loving glimpses of both its grand mansions and boulevards and its tiny alleys and nameless bars, its rough–and–tumble fish markets and terraced temples of cuisine, Mayle offers an edifying re–appreciation of that vibrant and all too often unjustly maligned metropolis.
The wine case has enough twists and turns to propel the plot along, but the star of this caper is the vineyard–veined, lavender–scented, sun–showered, garlic–seasoned setting itself: pure Provence.
