Benjamin hesitates to accept the request of recent Champagne wine estate widow Alice de Vonnelle to assemble a special vintage in honor of son Arthur, who died in an equestrian accident six months before his father's death in bed. Lebel realizes the old lady is wine-ignorant, unlike Arthur's widow Marianne, whom she hates but has to share the inheritance with, and who has the good sense to stick to experienced wine-maker François Norbert. Benjamin drops by from time to time, leaving Silvère on site, courted by the then merry widows, to keep digging for family dirt. .