It’s time for true-crime aficionados to raise a glass of very pricy wine.
A limited series based on journalist Maximillian Potter’s 2014 true-crime book Shadows in the Vineyard: The True Story of the Plot to Poison the World’s Greatest Wine is in development, with Emmy- and Tony Award–winning actor Judith Light and ER’s Noah Wyle set to star, according to Deadline.
Potter will co-write the series, which is being developed by production companies Landmark Studio Group and District 33. Landmark Studio Group is owned by Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, which was founded by authors Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen; the latter company also co-owns the streaming service Crackle. No agreement with a TV network or streaming service was announced, but production on the series is expected to start early next year.
The book recounts an extortionist’s 2010 attempt to extract €1 million from Aubert de Villaine, the French proprietor of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, a Burgundy vineyard that produces some of the most expensive wines in the world. (A single 1945 bottle of Romanée-Conti, Potter noted, could sell at auction for more than $124,000.) The extortion plot hinged on a threat to poison some of Villaine’s prize vines. Kirkus’ review, however, asserted that “the true crime narrative doesn’t live up to the billing” and that “the countryside backdrop is much more interesting that the supposedly hideous criminal plot, but the book may be useful as a guide to the wines of the Côte D’Or.”
It’s unclear whom Light and Wyle will play in the series, but both actors have appeared as real-life figures in book adaptations in the past. Light was nominated for an Emmy for her portrayal of entrepreneur Marilyn Miglin in the 2018 FX series The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, based on Maureen Orth’s 1999 book, Vulgar Favors; Wyle played Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in the 1999 TNT TV movie Pirates of Silicon Valley, based on the 1984 book Fire in the Valley by Paul Freiberger and Michael Swaine.
David Rapp is the senior Indie editor.
