Shadows in the vineyard : the true story of a plot to poison the world's greatest wine

Book

Content descriptions

General Note:	Includes index.
Formatted Contents Note:	The Grand Monsieur -- Unthinkable -- Conti -- Edmond's hope -- A sick joke -- Not a joke -- Devastator of vines -- Born again -- The obvious question(s) -- Almaden -- Leads -- Loss -- Drop-off -- Secret expeditions -- "Quelle pagaille" -- "Le mat̋re chanteur" -- A taste.
Summary, etc.:	When Maximilian Potter went to Burgundy to report for Vanity Fair on a crime that could have destroyed the Domaine de la Romanée Conti--the tiny, storied vineyard that produces the most expensive, exquisite wines in the world--he soon found a story that was much larger, and more thrilling, than he had originally imagined. In January 2010, Aubert de Villaine, the famed proprietor of the DRC, received an anonymous note threatening the destruction of his priceless vines by poison--a crime that in the world of high-end wine is akin to murder--unless he paid a one million euro ransom. Villaine believed it to be a sick joke, but that proved a fatal miscalculation; the crime was committed and shocked this fabled region of France. The sinister story that Potter uncovered would lead to a sting operation by top Paris detectives, the primary suspect's suicide, and a dramatic trial. This botanical crime threatened to destroy the fiercely traditional culture surrounding the world's greatest wine. Provided by publisher.