The Wine Merchant
This is a complete novel! Start with #1 and continue in numerical order. Time travel in the footsteps of the Widow Cliquot with Claire Julliot as she chronicles French village life through periods of Love, War, and Champagne. Follow Claire as she falls in love, becomes a wine buyer and then owner of an unassuming village wine shop - and front for an investigative agency simply named The Wine Merchant. Turn Claire’s diary pages to the present where Claire and her team of 'fixers' respond to their clients’ desperate pleas for help. This unlikely team discretely unwinds layers of mystery to reveal thieves and counterfeits. In so doing, they simultaneously protect the makers and especially the heritage of the region. But there's more - Return with Claire to the vineyards of Sonoma where the aunts will always be waiting at the BeeKeeper’s Cottage. Everyone understands that none of this could happen without the help of aunts – the original fixers in our lives -those people who step in to help. Some are known to us while others are not. The Wine Merchant is like an aunt - always there and ready to help without the need for recognition.
Episodes
Awakened by a call in the middle of the night, Claire runs to help without asking questions. Her sidekick Brigitte is desperate for Claire to personally witness suspicious activity at the Andoux vineyard bottling facility. Her true mission? Convince Claire to help solve this mystery as part of a related and ongoing investigation. Claire's company is called The Wine Merchant - an unassuming wine shop tucked away in a French village ...
Claire needed a summer internship to satisfy her degree program. Eventually, she turned to her aunt who gave her an idea. Claire found the confidence to believe in her dreams and make them happen on a vineyard in France. When she couldn't find a career path, she built her own in Champagne - with the help of an aunt.
Claire's aunt Laurente checks in on Claire at the Greno vineyard and introduces her to the value of diaries - for those who write in them and for those who discover them decades and centuries later.
Claire takes you right into her life at the Greno family house and vineyard through her vivid descriptions of the place and the people who inspire her there - her 'other' family. She discovers the value of connections from the village S...
Immersed in the beauty of the season with the ever-present threat of hailstones Claire works in the Greno vineyard alongside Michel.
Claire attends Laurente's Harvest Celebration before the harvest - Madame A. Huron gives her the key to the village and makes Claire an honorary citizen for life. Claire returns to the States, finishes her degree, meets Laurente at their cafe, and then heads out west to her mother's new home in Sonoma...
After a melancholy ending to her first summer internship, Claire returns for a second summer and then a third. This summer was different because she wasn't eager to leave, Claire wanted to stay for the harvest. Laurente invites her to their annual harvest celebration and Claire announces her decision to take a semester off and return to the States for her final semester and graduation. She learns that her mother Barret trusts her; ...
Recognizing that her best job prospects would be in the States, Claire heads to her mother's cottage - the BeeKeeper's Cottage in Sonoma. She settles into vineyard life with her mother, Natalie the owner, and Tim. They all get to know one another and their histories - including Manuel, Natalie's grandfather and inspiration. More interested in the vineyard than job hunting Claire avoids the inevitable until she receives the ideal j...
Three years into her tenure as a buyer, Claire tries to leave for France - it's harvest season and Laurente's Celebration is the one event she will never miss. Even though she's delayed Claire returns to a hero's welcome in Reims. The welcoming lunch is Claire's "Maiden Speech" for the group gathered. Madam Huron steps in to help and shares her secret with Claire.
Claire resigns to pursue another dream but not before returning to the BeeKeeper's Cottage and the advice of her mother, aunt, and friends. Every sensory pleasure is available there along with the calm of the porch - not to mention the company.
As Tim takes the first steps for the barn renovation, Claire bears witness to a life-changing event at Natalie's vineyard. It took a team with amazing skill sets to figure things out - to 'fix' the issue. Claire confirms her aunt's involvement with the seat reassignments.
Together this team of friends was trapped in a paradise by the pandemic. Andre is invited to stay longer - to help with everything from the barn renovation to the harvest. This was a fine-tuned team of people who could fix almost anything. And then everything changed and Claire thought she was alone with her future but Barret stepped in like an aunt - with advice.
Claire's closest friend Grace arrives with Sidonie, like the others, they too are fixers of a sort. Grace has a plan to help Claire - after they catch up. But first, they have to finagle the trailer into place.
Grace and Sidonie come up with a new proposal for Claire's business plan. But first Barret and Laurente had to approve the idea. The new business will address the frauds and counterfeits that plague the makers and their fine products not to mention the regions that produce them.
How the Wine Merchant came into being. A wine expert who detects fraud and sees the future. Grace and Sidonie find a way to draft Claire into the fixing world - alongside Barret and Laurente.
Claire opens a wine shop in a French village near the Greno vineyard. It's a place for makers and farmers to gather and talk. Meanwhile, the oversight committee has grown corrupt and they are no longer trusted. Laurente is the sole trusted authority that they can turn to.
Claire has a few security systems but none better than Remi - her Irish wolfhound who stands guard by the shop entrance. Remi allows a visitor up to Claire's offi...
Andre tells Claire the story of his family, the vineyard, and his missing wine. He turns to Claire for help. He wants to protect more than his wine - it's about reputation; the makers and the precious terroir. With Brigitte by her side, Claire tells Andre that there is more to the Wine Merchant than a shop. Remi agrees.
Claire tells Andre about some of the details of their 'other' work at the Wine Merchant - the fixing. If and only if he promises to not ask questions.
Claire awakens to reality after reliving the last ten years from her Champagne Internships up until last night when she met Brigitte in the woods by Analise's cottage.
While helping Andre off the books of the Wine Merchant - they receive a new cellar file for Laurente's closest friend and mentor Elle St Denis DeLaVigne the grande dame of wine. She has been accused of cheating and counterfeiting wine. She needs a fixer.
The investigation for the DLV file takes Barret to Hong Kong where she finds a few clues about the counterfeit wine - Andre's stolen wine is used to counterfeit DLV's
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