The Winemaker

A deadly plot in nineteenth-century Spain threatens the life a vineyard owner’s son struggles to build in this novel by the New York Times–bestselling author of The Physician—“So suspenseful that you cannot put it down” (Leipziger Volkszeitung).

Josep Alvarez is a young man in the tiny grape-growing village of Santa Eulália, in northern Spain, where his father grows black grapes that are turned into cheap vinegar. Joseph loves the agricultural life, but he is the second son, and his father's vineyard will be inherited by his brother Donat, the firstborn. Josep needs to keep his hands in the soil. He yearns for a job growing grapes and for an opportunity to marry Teresa Gallego.

In Madrid, an assassination plot, conceived against the political leader of Spain by men of wealth and power, creates a storm of intrigue that sucks into its vortex a group of innocent young farm workers in Santa Eulália. How Josep's life is changed drastically by these events, and how, ironically, they gradually turn him into an inspired vintner with an evolving vision of life, is the fascinating story of The Winemaker.

“Gordon's healthy obsession with research, his ability to create extremely realistic characters, and that innate literary talent of his for which there’s no explanation are certain to make this book another best seller.” —Elle Magazine (Spain)