Chapter 19
Farm workers, merchants, and other locals filled the tasting room, seated at tables clustered around the fireplace, the bar, and in neat rows before a small stage. Servants brought out platters of delicious smelling food, and everyone had at least three wineglasses attended by the three servants going around with wine bottles, a different vintage served with each course. Olive oil, piri-piri sauce, garlic, and other spices and seasonings livened up even peasant fare like potatoes, bacalhau, and boiled cabbage.
Zach ate a particularly spicy bite, then quickly downed a gulp of wine and fanned his mouth, drawing a smile from Harriet. Once his mouth sufficiently recovered, he forked another bite of chorizo and held it closer to the candles in the center of the table. “Note the fle
