Shadows in the Vineyard: The True Story of the Plot to Poison the World's Greatest Wine by Maximillian Potter

room and watching Monsieur de Villaine drive away from the Domaine that now possessed some of the most renowned vines that had once belonged to the Liger-Belairs, and thereby the storied reputation, that had once belonged to Louis-Michel’s family. The General could not help envision a day when he would buy back the vines that the de Villaines had acquired from his ancestors.

    The next plaque Aubert passed was on the wall of a striking gray stone prerevolutionary mansion behind a spectacular ornate gate that had oxidized green. Both the building and the garden next to it were wrapped in ivy and in disrepair. It was illuminated by one of the very few streetlamps in the village. In the soft sad light, as snow flurries fell, it appeared like a beautiful illustration from a forgotten fairy tale:
    A NCIEN R ENDEZ- V OUS
    DE C HASSE
    DES D UCS DE B OURGOGNE
    ET C UVERIE
    DU P RINCE DE C ONTI
    [Ancient hunting lodge of the Dukes of Burgundy and the winery of the Prince of Conti]
    This property belonged to the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, acquired by the
société civile
at Monsieur de Villaine’s direction. When asked such things—and he was asked often—Monsieur de Villaine would say that to fully appreciate the winesof Burgundy one must understand the history of the place. The vines and the
terroir
are critical, yes, but so is man. Man and his personality bring as much flavor to the wines as anything else.
    The Prince de Conti, his heroics, his revolutionary schemes—why, the legend of how he outsmarted the Madame de Pompadour to win the vineyard alone—was worth the price the Domaine had paid for the historic property. How could the DRC not have seized the chance to own the winery once owned by the very prince from whom the Domaine and its crown jewel vineyard takes its name—the man who gives Romanée-Conti so much of its sensuality and power, its balance and complexity?

    Just before leaving the village, the Grand Monsieur passed a white stone mansion roofed in blue tile. It was an understatedly rich beauty that, fittingly enough, could not be ignored. The mansion exuded an aura of power and elegant femininity, as did its name: Les Genevrières, property of Domaine Leroy. Monsieur de Villaine noticed a silver Range Rover parked in the drive. Her assistant—
God help that man
, he thought—was there. Meaning it was very likely she was there.
    The Domaine Leroy did not have a plaque. It would not have been unfair to suspect that this was because the domaine’s owner, Madame Lalou Bize-Leroy, had refused to install one, thinking that such a marker was too small. Instead, Les Genevrières was painted in large flowery script on the wall out front.
    Madame Leroy was one of two daughters of Henri Leroy. Throughout Burgundy, Monsieur Leroy, now long since deceased, was still held in high regard. Aubert de Villaine greatly admired him; he felt that he learned a great deal from Monsieur Leroy and that he owed much to him, including one of the jobs Monsieur deVillaine had as a young man in the United States. Thus indirectly Monsieur Leroy had played a role in bringing the Grand Monsieur together with his wife.
    Leroy’s daughter Marcelle Bize-Leroy, who had succeeded him, had created quite a different reputation for herself. She was known throughout Burgundy, really throughout the wine world, famously, or depending on your view, infamously, by the nickname her father had given her, “Lalou.”
    Lalou sounds like the name for someone who, metaphorically if not literally, skips about delivering cupcakes and smiles. Lalou is the name for a person whom everyone knows well and likes. Perhaps then, at one time, the name suited her. According to her considerable reputation, this Lalou was a rarely seen enigma, mostly respected and absolutely feared. She loomed over Burgundy like Leona Helmsley—the intimidating businesswoman who with her husband owned New York’s Helmsley Palace hotel and many other properties and struck terror in