When a frightened young woman comes into the police station to report a missing fiancée, she runs into Columbo and he has pity on her. Thus begins "Any Old Port in a Storm," a fantastic "Columbo" episode about a vineyard owner, his half brother, his secretary, and a big secret. Donald Pleasance is exceedingly unlikable as Adrian, who runs Carsini Wines - at a loss - and collects wine as well. Gary Conway is his playboy half-brother who's sick of seeing the family fortune dwindling away. Fearful that his wine business will be turned into a Gallo-type operation, Adrian kills his brother and leaves the body in the wine cellar before he and his secretary, beautifully portrayed by Julie Harris, attend a wine auction in New York.
It's not long before Columbo becomes involved and learns his wines so that he can go toe to toe with a murderer, who is now having the screws put to him by Harris, an old maid who knows what he did and wants marriage for her silence. The whole thing culminates in an exquisite dinner for which Columbo has chosen all the wine.
The masterful Larry Cohen wrote this script, and you'll find this episode and its subtleties right up there with the best of the "Columbo" series.