A Vintage Murder is the fourth episode of the seventeenth series of Midsomer Murders and originally aired on 18th February 2015.
William Carnarvon's Midsomer Vinae winery is launching a new sparkling white in the presence of waspish critic Nadia Simons when several guests are poisoned, though not fatally. William's wife Diana tells DCI Barnaby of the opposition to the vineyard by a local group led by nurse Elspeth Rice but Elspeth claims that the vineyard has caused pollution and was indirectly responsible for the death of little Jessica Tyler, killed by a hit and run driver after a wine-tasting 5 years earlier. Nadia was a prime suspect and soon afterwards she is killed. The vineyard is in financial trouble and hotelier Louis Paynton, who is in love with Diana, offers to buy it but he is the next victim. Crime of passion, revenge killing or means of keeping somebody quiet, there is further sabotage and an abduction before Barnaby discovers who committed a vintage murder.
Tropes:
- The Alcoholic: Wine critic Nadia Simons. Even she admits it's a cliché.
- Bound and Gagged: Tina is bound and gagged and trapped in a cellar as wine begins to cascade dangerously from above.
- Bunker Woman: After being abducted by Kevin, Tina is Bound and Gagged and trapped in a cellar as wine begins to cascade dangerously from above.
- Car Fu: Nadia Simons is knocked unconscious by a car, before being dragged off to her death in the vineyard.
- Drowning Pit: After being abducted by Kevin, Tina is Bound and Gagged and trapped in a cellar as wine begins to cascade dangerously from above.
- Gas Chamber: Nadia, the first Victim of the Week, is drinking again when a car drives straight at her. She recovers consciousness briefly only to find herself trapped in the vineyard's fermentation room with no air supply. Louis' son Kevin discovers her body - she died from carbon dioxide poisoning.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Louis Paynton is pushed out of a hotel window and lands onto the pointed wooden stake that is holding up the flower trellis, killing him instantly.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Judy Tyler has this reaction when she finds out who really killed her daughter in a hit-and-run, meaning she murdered two innocent people.
- Tampering with Food and Drink: The first crime involves the wine being served the tasting being poisoned.