Case file · Series 17, Episode 4 · Season 17, Episode 4
A Vintage Murder
A sparkling-wine launch turns poisonous before a critic is murdered among the vines of Midsomer Vinae.
The 60-second case card
Should I watch this one?
The vineyard setting pairs a public product launch with a case fermented from a much older loss.
- Best for
- Winery · Poisoning · Old tragedy
- Mood
- Classic
- Team
- DCI John Barnaby with DS Charlie Nelson
- Spoiler guidance
- Read the premise freely; open the marked sections only after watching. Check the linked provider advisory for further viewing information.
Why it matters
The vineyard setting pairs a public product launch with a case fermented from a much older loss.
The Carnarvon Estate Winery launches its latest sparkling wine just as critic Nadia Simons delivers a damaging review. Guests then collapse after drinking from glasses laced with slug poison, and the apparent publicity attack becomes a murder inquiry when Nadia is killed at the winery.
Barnaby and Nelson investigate the Carnarvon family, winery staff and campaigners blamed for threatening the business. Dr Kate Wilding's forensic findings help connect the present attacks to the unresolved death of a young woman, forcing the detectives to look beyond commercial sabotage.
Break the seal: reveal the finding
The poisoned launch is staged to suggest an attack on the winery, but the later murder exposes a more personal reckoning. Barnaby connects the victims to the earlier death and identifies who has been using the estate's public feud as cover.
More episode detailsProduction, cast, deaths and filming information
Credits, context and checked facts
Production and cast
- TV series
- Series 17
- Episode number
- Episode 4
- Written by
- Lisa Holdsworth
- Directed by
- Nick Laughland
- Listed transmission date(s)
- 18 February 2015
- Reported filming period
- August 2014
- Detective
- DCI John Barnaby
- Partner
- DS Charlie Nelson
- Pathologist
- Dr Kate Wilding · Tamzin Malleson
- Principal setting
- Midsomer Vinae
- Casebook tone
- Classic
Check the credits, then follow the source trail for production and filming details. Counts below describe this archive’s records.
The fictional setting and the real filming sites are separate pieces of information. The location desk currently connects it to 0 broader filming areas and 1 exact on-screen site identity.
Credits and archive connections
- Writer credits4 episodes credited to Lisa Holdsworth
- Director credits9 episodes directed by Nick Laughland
- Release positionCase 104 of 144
- Story characterClassic · Winery · Poisoning
- Location evidence1 exact screen-use match
This is Tamzin Malleson's last regular appearance as pathologist Dr Kate Wilding.
Stanlake Park Wine Estate at Twyford represents the winery in fictional Midsomer Vinae.
Sources for the production file
Published episode chronology and credits ↗Official ITV programme page ↗Filming-location reference index ↗The chronology is the reference for the credits shown here. A programme homepage does not independently verify a filming date or every production detail. Where multiple transmission dates are listed, territory attribution needs checking. Story, teleplay and adaptation distinctions require the original credit wording; links to external synopses may reveal plot details.
Selected episode credits
A Vintage Murder cast
These selected cast entries link to their published profiles. They do not include every name shown in the end credits.
Fiona Dolman
Mark Bonnar
Naoko Mori
Ruth Gemmell
Rosie Cavaliero
Lloyd Owen
Sabrina Bartlett
Claire Bloom
Wayne Foskett
Tom Rhys Harries
Jaye Jacobs
Max Bennett
Selina Griffiths
Amalia Vitale
The performers behind this case
Core cast
Actor profiles for the detective, investigating partner and pathologist credited to this episode.
Neil Dudgeon
John Barnaby · Detective Chief InspectorAn English actor whose television work before Causton included Piece of Cake, The Mrs Bradley Mysteries, Messiah and the sitcom Life of Riley. He also appeared in Midsomer Murders years earlier as a different character in Garden of Death.
- Messiah
- Life of Riley
- The Mrs Bradley Mysteries
Gwilym Lee
Charlie Nelson · Detective SergeantA British actor whose screen career includes Jamestown, The Great and Top End Wedding. International audiences may know him best as Queen guitarist Brian May in the film Bohemian Rhapsody.
- Bohemian Rhapsody
- The Great
- Jamestown
Tamzin Malleson
Dr Kate Wilding · Police pathologistAn English actor whose best-known television work includes Dangerfield, Teachers, the medical drama Bodies and Unforgotten. She has also appeared in Poirot, Marcella and A Touch of Frost.
- Teachers
- Bodies
- Unforgotten
Portraits are used only where a reusable licence or public-domain release has been verified. Publicity stills and stock photographs are not copied into this independent guide.
Forensic desk
Dr Kate Wilding
- Credit
- Resident pathologist
- Played by
- Tamzin Malleson
Bullard's assured, no-nonsense successor combines forensic authority with a more informal chemistry around the John Barnaby team.
Meet the Casebook pathologists →Spoiler-controlled deaths desk
Deaths recorded in this case
3 people die in this case, according to the linked death record.
Break the seal: reveal the death ledger
- Nadia Simons
Murder · Suffocation
Performer check- Nadia Simons: Naoko Mori
- Louis Paynton
Murder · Fall
Performer check- Louis Paynton: Lloyd Owen
- Jessica Tyler
Accidental, natural or other · Vehicle or machinery · historical or before the main case
Performer check- Jessica Tyler: not listed in the current published cast recordThe historical child victim is named in the episode synopsis, but no Jessica Tyler performer appears in the current published cast record; Judy, Tina and Roger Tyler are different characters.
Break a second seal: reveal the verified killer
Verified killer
Judy TylerJudy deliberately drove at Nadia Simons and later killed Louis Paynton because she believed both were responsible for her daughter Jessica's death and its concealment. The resolution establishes that therapist Elspeth Rice had accidentally struck Jessica and hidden the car, while Diana Carnarvon's non-fatal launch sabotage and Kevin Fisher's abduction of Tina remain separate offences.
Verified motive
Judy acted from grief and mistaken revenge after Elspeth shaped her belief that Nadia had killed Jessica and that Louis had helped conceal it. Seeing Nadia at Jessica's memorial changed Judy's fear into anger; she then killed Nadia and Louis in the belief that she was avenging and belatedly protecting her daughter.
Verified decisive clue
Archive case 104 · checked 25 September 2026The car recovered from the pond where Jessica diedRecovering Elspeth's car exposes her accidental collision with Jessica and the concealed truth behind Judy's revenge. Judy admits driving at Nadia and killing Louis because she believed they caused or covered up her daughter's death. Elspeth's dangerous driving and concealment, and Kevin's abduction of Tina, remain separate offences.
Real place → fictional identity
What was filmed where?
Stanlake Park Wine Estate
Used as: The working vineyard and winery represent the Carnarvon estate at Midsomer Vinae.
Sources support the listed site uses; they do not establish every filming location in an episode.
Wider filming areas
Places connected to this file
No real-place link is published here until it can be tied to a specific, sourced screen use.