Purchased second-hand for the Aotearoa Literature Sweep. After researching possibilities, it practically jumped off the bookshelf at me.

The blurb:
A tale of love, wine and angels, The Vintner's Luck was published in 1999 around the world in numerous editions and languages. It won the Deutz Medal for Fiction at the 1999 Montana New Zealand Book Awards, where it also received the Readers' Choice and Booksellers' Choice awards, was longlisted for the 1999 Orange Prize, and won the 2001 Tasmania Pacific Prize. Burgundy, 1808. One night Sobran Jodeau, a young vintner, meets an angel in his vineyard: a physically gorgeous creature with huge wings that smell of snow, a sense of humour and an enquiring mind. Every year on the midsummer anniversary of the date, they meet again. Village life goes on, meanwhile, with its affairs and mysteries, marriages and murders, and the vintages keep on improving through the horrors of the Napoleonic wars, and into the middle of the century, as science marches on, viticulture changes, and gliders fly like angels. Elizabeth Knox is the author of ten novels most recently The Absolute Book a trilogy of autobiographical novellas, three fantasy novels for young adults, and a collection of essays. She has received many honours, including the 1988 PEN Best First Book Award for After Z-Hour, the 2006 Esther Glen Award for New Zealand children's literature for Dreamhunter, and an American Library Association Michael L. Printz Honor Award for Young Adult Literature in 2008 for Dreamquake. She held the Victoria University of Wellington Writers Fellowship in 1997, and the Katherine Mansfield Memorial Fellowship in Menton in 1999. She was an inaugural New Zealand Arts Foundation Laureate in 2000, and was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2002. She lives in Wellington with her husband and son.

I probably would never have read this book if not for the Aotearoa sweep. The blurb didn’t particularly grab me and there was other kiwi literature higher on my list. But I really enjoyed it and am pleased to have read it. The beauty of BookCrossing!
In the post to the winner of the Aotearoa New Zealand Literature Sweep. I hope you enjoy it.

OMG, I am either the winner or the decoy of the Aotearoa sweepstakes! Thank you so much Rach260, this book looks great and I have not heard of Elizabeth Knox, so you have introduced me to a new author. Thank you also for my butterfly drawing - it’s now displayed on my fridge.

An interesting premise for a story. Sobran Jodeau was a vintner in the early 1800’s who met a beautiful angel one night. After the first meeting, each chapter dealt with a wine description and the next year of vintage when once again Sobran met up with Xas the angel.
A story which started off as friendship by the sharing of wine which accelerated into passion and then hate as we learned Xas’ background as a fallen angel.
Fantasy is definitely not my favourite read, but I did enjoy this book which also showed us life in 1800’s France. The only disappointment was the last chapter which took place 130 years after the main story of Sobran. I would have preferred the book finish before there.

To the finder of this book -
Please let me and previous readers know it is in safe hands by journalling that you have caught it; you are under no obligation to read it.
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