I’m always looking to feature worthwhile travel books, so I recently asked my friends to share their favorites. One friend recommended “Shadows in the Vineyard” by Maximillian Potter. As my friend Amy wrote, “It’s nonfiction about a real-life plot to poison a famous vineyard in France’s Burgundy region, but has so much rich history and information about the region, it made me want to travel there and drink more vino than I already do.” Here’s the description from Amazon:
“In January 2010, Aubert de Villaine, the famed proprietor of the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, the tiny, storied vineyard that produces the most expensive, exquisite wines in the world, 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 and the crime shocked this fabled region of France.
“The sinister story that Vanity Fair journalist Maximillian Potter uncovered would lead to a sting operation by some of France’s top detectives, the primary suspect’s suicide, and a dramatic investigation. This botanical crime threatened to destroy the fiercely traditional culture surrounding the world’s greatest wine.
“Shadows In The Vineyard takes us deep into a captivating world full of fascinating characters, small-town French politics, an unforgettable narrative, and a local culture defined by the twinned veins of excess and vitality and the deep reverent attention to the land that runs through it.”
Grab it: Grab “Shadows in the Vineyard” by Maximillian Potter on Amazon for $16.