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The annual Brokenwood wine show is disrupted when the body of the guest judge, a well-known wine critic, is found dead in a fermentation vat.

The annual Brokenwood wine show is a major event and having bought a 10-acre block with maturing grapes, no one is looking forward to it more than Detective Mike Shepherd. But when a guest judge and wine critic is found dead inside a fermenting vat, the show takes second place to the murder investigation.—Anonymous

Brokenwood has acquired new flash. Young Detective Kristin Sims got the rudiments of police work from her 3 years with Gary McLeod, but DI Mike Shepherd helped her uncover her chops. In turn, Shepherd caught "the vibe" from Sims and Brokenwood: the desire to enjoy life in the slow lane. McLeod's cancer leaves vacancies which Shepherd overfills at work and at his new small home-slash-winery, Coppersfield. It is a quirk of this new life which brings Shepherd to the Brokenwood Wine Awards; he meets Ned James, respected wine critic with an acerbic wit. Bright Valley Chardonnay wins the gold; Amanda James, 5 year gold medal champion, claims someone must have tampered with the case of wine she submitted for judging. The head judge, Paul Winterson, is found the next day in an open fermenter at Amanda's state-of-the-art winery, in 2,000 litres of raw Pinot Noir. Amanda James is very upset; it is such a waste...of superior grapes. Det. Breen joins Shepherd and Sims on a case of sifting through motive and Merlot. Is wine-making Art, as Ned James swears or Science, as daughter Amanda claims? Or, is it snow that is more complex than wine, as Russian born pathologist, Dr. Gina Kadinsky claims? (There are over 100 kinds of snow.) As he has not yet developed his palate, Shepherd enlists assistance with all aspects of wine from colorful sources.—LA-Lawyer

With Brokenwood touted for its burgeoning merlot, the annual wine show is a major event. Having bought a 10-acre block with maturing grapes, no one is looking forward to it more than DI Mike Shepherd. But when a guest judge and wine critic is found dead, drowned inside a fermenting vat, the show takes second place to the murder investigation.