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Get ready for a whole new

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vintage of true crime. I'm Chris

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Walker, host of the new podcast

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Bloodvines, available exclusively on Wonder Plus.

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Bloodvines is a full-bodied podcast that

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uncorks the never-before-told story of the

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Lachardi family, one of the most

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powerful wine dynasties in California history,

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who almost brought down the entire

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industry over a bloody battle for

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succession. Grab a glass of your

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favorite wine and join me as

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we dive into a story that

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has notes of fraud and betrayal

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capped off with a big finish

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murder I'm about to play you

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a clip from the first episode

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of blood vines You can listen

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to all episodes right now on

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wondery plus. Cheers June 11th

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2021. It's a stifling hot

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day in California's Central Valley.

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The air feels thick and

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heat shimmers above the ground.

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But the area I've just

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walked into is cold, clinical,

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bureaucratic. I pull out my

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phone to record a voice

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memo. Okay, so I just

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got to the San Joaquin

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County Superior Courthouse to view

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the case exhibits. We're going

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to go through them in

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the order that they were

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presented at trial, and we'll

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see what comes up here.

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I'm in a private room off

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the courthouse's second floor lobby and

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spread out before me on tables

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or envelopes, bags, and boxes. A

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legal clerk named Margarita stands among

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them wearing gloves. She doesn't want

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me to record her while she

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gives instructions, but they are as

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follows. I'm not to touch anything.

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I'm not to take photos. She

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will handle each piece of evidence

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so I can observe it. And

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yes, she says, I can record

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voice memos as I view the

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items. I'm nervous and excited. While

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I've read a lot about the

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evidence presented in this room, I've

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never seen any of it for

2:00

myself. We start going through the

2:03

case exhibits, and Margarita looks a

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little grossed out. I can't blame

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her. So I'm looking at

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the pillow case now, which

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has dried bodily fluid on

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it, and looks kind of

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brown and crusty, and there's

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a floral print pattern with

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some dried brown stuff in

2:22

the corner. Might be blood,

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might be other bodily

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fluid. Next comes a

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cotton sweater, its backside

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definitely dark with blood.

2:32

There's a towel, a

2:34

spent bullet casing, the murder

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weapon. It's the body of a

2:39

colt 45, but it's a 22,

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so it doesn't look like a

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22, even though it is a

2:45

small caliber gun. But yeah, kind

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of like a blue steel with

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wooden grips on the side. So

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far, most everything matches the

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police reports. There are a

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few surprises, like when the

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clerk produces a paper lunch

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bag full of audio cassette

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tapes. I'm going to need copies

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of those. And then, well,

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I'm not prepared for what

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comes next. So I'm being

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presented with some of the

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photos, which is really quite

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striking to see for the

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first time having only read

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lots of descriptions of this. It's

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the murder scene. And as I

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take in the details, it's the

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little things that get me. The

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crooked angle of the victim's neck.

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The way the man lies backwards,

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one leg straight, the other knee

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bent on a sofa. The expression

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on his face, peaceful, relaxed, unsuspecting.

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The photograph's grainy quality only

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adds to the eariness. But

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I'm also unsettled for a

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different reason. After years of

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searching, I think I finally

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know who killed him. My

3:54

name is Chris Walker. I'm

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an investigative journalist.

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Almost half a decade now,

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I've been researching how the man

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in the photograph was connected to

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an entirely different case. A fraud

4:09

case. You see, before his death,

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the victim was just one person

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under investigation for a multi-million dollar

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scam. In the 1980s, it sent

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ripples through one of California's most

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iconic industries. But no one thought

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that case would turn violent. The

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murder caught everyone off guard, including,

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as I was learning, federal investigators.

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I was sitting in my family

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room watching the evening news. The

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spot came on about a murder

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and he was murdered with a

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22 caliber bullet to the head,

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which is a very mafia type

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way of doing it. But the

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feds weren't looking into the mafia,

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or at least they didn't think

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they were. No, they'd been looking

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into a case involving wine. Lots

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and lots of wine, sent from

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the heart of grape country to

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living rooms across America. We're talking

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about one of the largest scams

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in California history, affecting millions of

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bottles. But here's the thing. It's

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not like these bottles were top

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shelf wine. This is what I

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call an I-roll drink. It's not

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even really wine. It's just pop

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drink with alcohol. When you're talking

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about white zinc. I actually didn't

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like it as a wine, but

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I think White Zinfandel was kind

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of a gateway drug to better

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wines in some ways. White Zinfandel.

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The Fed's case centered around a

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pink drink with notes of jolly

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ranchers that once was, to the

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embarrassment of many, America's top selling

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wine. This is the sugary sensation

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that birthed Americans' obsession with rosé,

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turning countless drinkers onto pink wines,

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even though, from the get-go, Snobs

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saw the drink as kitsch. In

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federal investigators, while they could see

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fraud developing all-around white zinc, they'd...

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didn't think the stakes were all

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that high. Some went so far

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as to call the investigation a

6:03

joke. But what they couldn't anticipate

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is that this sweet drink would

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develop a sour history. Its unexpected

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success led the wine industry down

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a dark path. Because fraud is

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one thing, but murder? What might

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have been a pop culture scam

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set in the fast and frivolous

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80s turned into something shocking. Many

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stones were left unturned, questions unanswered,

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but I've been on the hunt

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for those answers and am about

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to reveal the full story for

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the very first time. It's a

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parable of greed that hardly anyone

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knows about, and the wine industry

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would prefer to keep it that

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way. There was always the sense

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that you couldn't really trust what

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was in the field. As time

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went on you heard stories about

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a lot of different people and

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wineries involved in it. People have

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fought over it and died over

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it and made lots of wine

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over it. So pour yourself a

7:03

glass and join me because I'm

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going to tell you a story.

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It's quite a curious story of

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that crazy deal with the grapes

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and all that stuff. They were

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saying they stashed the money and

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I mean there's just all these

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theories that went around man about

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stuff like that. about a family

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in its secrets. We all felt

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that the family, being the mafia,

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were covering up something big. About

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deception and betrayal. They both totally

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disappointed him. They broke his heart,

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they broke his spirit. And a

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scandal that threatened the integrity of

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an entire industry? This is a

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big fraud. A multi-million dollar fraud.

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Before it brought down a wine

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dynasty. I mean, the scandal takes

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on its own life. From Foxipas

7:51

Inc. This is Blood Vine's. thirsty

7:53

for more. Follow Blood Vine's wherever

7:55

you listen to your podcast and

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binge all episodes for

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more? Follow Blood

8:02

Vines wherever you

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