Margaret Harwood, the mousy daughter of esteemed wine merchant Sir Mason Harwood, discovers a magnum of wine, vintage 1811, bearing Napoleon's seal. Sir Mason instantly offers it to his best customer, T.T. Kelleher, who sends his friend, Oliver Plexico to retrieve it. Three other interested parties converge on the valuable rarity: a Greek billionaire, to whom Margaret's unscrupulous brother has independently sold the bottle; an amoral French scientist, who believes it contains the secret to a rejuvenation formula that he will kill to obtain; and a murderous thug, who wants to sell it himself.
