Romanee-Conti producer targeted by blackmailer
A blackmailer has targeted the vineyard where some of the world's most expensive wine is produced, in a dramatic development in Burgundy.
The winemakers responsible for producing Romanee-Conti, which can sell for as much as £15,000 per bottle, claim to have received letters from a man threatening to poison the estate's crop.
According to co-manager Aubert de Villaine, the blackmailer demanded €1 million (£0.85 million) from the Romanee-Conti producers or he would pour a poisonous chemical onto the vines.
"The letters were very well-written and there was a real knowledge of our domain," the Daily Telegraph reports him as saying.
"I didn't want to take the risk of being taken hostage, as we could have been dealing with proper gangsters."
Fortunately for wine lovers and Mr de Villaine, police have now apprehended the would-be poisoner after a sting operation involving a cash drop-off in a nearby graveyard.
Romanee Conti is widely regarded as the greatest vineyard in Burgundy and the greatest Pinot Noir vineyard in the world.