Walkthrough for the Side Quest Wine Wars: Vermentino in The Witcher 3 Blood and Wine, including information about how this quest relates to the other Wine Wars quests, and how to unlock the achievement/trophy The Grapes of Wrath Stomped.

To start this quest you must first start [Wine Wars: Belgaard] by witnessing a spat between two vineyard owners near the Plegmund’s Bridge signpost (you can grab the notice Announcement from the Office of Internal Revenue of the Duchy of Toussaint from pretty much any notice board in Toussaint to guide you here, if necessary). After you approach and witness the feuding vineyard owners they’ll each ask you to help their troubled vineyards, and you should accept both offers. For the purposes of this quest, agreeing to assist Matilda de Vermentino - whether you also later agree to help Liam de Coronata or not - will start this quest.

The substance of Wine Wars: Vermentino involves running around Toussaint to five points of interest and clearing them. The areas you need to clear to complete Wine Wars: Vermentino can be found to the west and southwest of the Plegmund’s Bridge signpost, and compared to the areas you need to clear for Wine Wars: Coronata, they’re fairly spread out. Start out by heading southwest from Plegmund’s Bridge to discover the Castel Ravello Vineyard signpost, as it’s in a fairly centralized location which you can use to orient yourself as you seek out and conquer these map markers.

Vermentino Site - Lac Celavy Abandoned Site¶

Assuming you’re starting at the Castel Ravello Vineyard signpost, let’s fast travel to the Tourney Ground and from there head west and slightly north to find an Abandoned Site just southeast of Lac Celavy, which is where the quest There Can Be Only One can be started.

This Abandoned Site is guarded by a single Archespore (level thirty-eight), which shouldn’t be too much trouble to dispose of - use Cursed Oil to speed things up. Once it’s dead, Geralt will meditate and the peasants will return. Search a cart southeast of the Abandoned Site marker to find a corpse on the back with a Letter to a Lover, which mentions some of the woes the Vermentino vineyard has been suffering.

Vermentino Site - Castel Ravello West Abandoned Site¶

Another Abandoned Site event can be found west (and slightly south) of Castel Ravello Vineyard, and this one is infested by two Archespores (level thirty-eight) that must be smote. Use Cursed Oil to deal more damage, Igni to pop explosive pods and drive Archespores underground, and if they’re still giving you trouble, chug a Superior Golden Oriole potion to cause their poison spittle to heal you, which should trivialize the fight.

When the pestilential plants are gone Geralt will meditate and the peasants will magically return to this site and get back to work, and with them comes a variety of containers you can loot for various, low-quality goodies. As is the norm for these Wine Wars Abandoned Sites you’ll now find a wagon full of corpses, this time northeast of the map marker near a road. Search one of the corpses on the wagon to find a Letter from Augustin Tonneliay, which details the work being done here, and the cause for such urgency.

Vermentino Site - Person(s) in Distress¶

Northwest of the Castel Ravello Vineyard you’ll find a house in the country which is now the site of a Person(s) in Distress event. Kill the three Bandits (level thirty-seven) guarding their captive, after which their captive - Vermentino Vineyard’s resident Armorer - will speak to you and offer to travel together to Vermentino Vineyard. Turn him down so you can loot the corpses of the Bandits you slew, then scour the area for other treasures. In this case, this includes a chest submerged in the lake to the south.

Vermentino Site - Hidden Treasure: Don’t Take Candy from a Stranger¶

North of Castel Ravello Vineyard, across a river, you’ll find a nice little blue hut out in the country that seems to suffer from an infestation of Rotfiends (level thirty-seven), which understandably ruins the idyllic scenery somewhat. Kill the explosive necrophages, then search behind (north of) the house to find a corpse, on which you can recover Augustin Tonnelliay’s Journal and a Key to the chest in sunflower fields. Reading the aforementioned journal will start the Treasure Hunt Don’t Take Candy from a Stranger.

This quest directs you to backtrack yet again, to an estate to the south - the otherwise unmarked Vermentino Vineyard, as it were - near the river east of the Castel Ravello Vineyard. Don’t head straight there, however, as you can nab a nearby signpost to make future trips that much quicker. From the blue hut the Rotfiends guarded make your way along a road to the east, northeast, continuing eastwards as it forks, crossing a bridge, then turning north at another fork. This road will eventually lead to the Prophet Lebioda Statue signpost, which is where you can properly pick up the [Big Feet to Fill] quest… at a later date. For now, it’s enough that you’ve paved the way, so to speak.

Use this signpost and fast-travel back to the Castel Ravello Vineyard signpost, and from there trudge over to the unmarked Vermentino Vineyard, where the quest marker for the quest [Don’t Take Candy from a Stranger] beckons. At the quest marker you’ll find a search area, and in the center of the search area you’ll find two clusters of sunflower plants, in the midst of which you’ll find a chest containing treasure that’s probably not worth the trouble. Still, this quest is now complete.

Vermentino Site - Guarded Treasure¶

The eastern-most of the Vermentino events, you’ll find this Guarded Treasure event near the river southeast of Castel Ravello Vineyard. At the site’s location you’ll find a camp… a camp that’s now infested with Archespores (level thirty-eight). Prune the man-eating plants, loot the camp, then search the remains of some of their victims to find a Heavy Brass Key and a Letter on elegant stationery. Like a similar letter found on Coronata lands, this one implicates intentional sabotage, and is signed “C”. Interesting…

You’re technically done resolving all the problems immediately plaguing the Vermentino Vineyard, but you haven’t actually hindered whatever conspiracy was behind said problems. You can return to the Vermentino Vineyard anyways and, with her problems resolved, allow Matilda to purchase the Belgaard Vineyard, which has problems of its own to resolve. Or, if you want to earn more rewards and actually get to the bottom of this conspiracy, you can put this quest on hold and deal with Wine Wars: Coronata.

If you’ve completed all five tasks for both Wine Wars: Coronata and Wine Wars: Vermentino without turning either quest in to the respective vineyard owner, the quest [Wine Wars: The Deus in the Machina] should automatically begin.