Noah Gordon · 2007 · exile

As the landless second son of a Catalan grape-grower, young Josep Alvarez is swept up in a political conspiracy that forces him to flee Spain; in exile in the French wine country he masters the art of the vine, then returns home to make something fine from his father's neglected vineyard.

1. 1
   Santa Eulalia

   In a tiny Catalan village where his family presses black grapes into cheap vinegar, the landless second son Josep is recruited into a secret band of armed hunters.

2. 2
   Madrid

   The band is drawn, unwitting, into the wealthy conspiracy that assassinates General Prim, and when it goes wrong Josep must run for his life.

3. 3
   Roquebrun

   Hiding across the border in the Languedoc at the vineyard of Leon Mendes, Josep spends four years learning how great wine is truly made.

4. 4
   Santa Eulalia

   Word of his father's death draws him back on foot over the Pyrenees to buy the family land and turn its poor grapes into a wine worthy of the name.