
Château Sucker – Wine Fraud (2012) - Mz
http://nymag.com/news/features/rudy-kurniawan-wine-fraud-2012-5/
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rdtsc
Speaking about wines from the 1960s, I have cool story. My dad is a
refrigeration engineer for large installations. Many years ago when I was
around my teens, he did a job for a winery. The winery was left from the times
of the Soviets (it was in one of the republics). Well, as a thank you they
gave him a bottle of wine from the 1960s.

The bottle looked like crap on the outside, it was covered in dust and grime.
We kept it for a bit, then at a birthday or some other occasion, maybe New
Years, we opened it. And it was, well ... different. It did not taste like
wine. It wasn't spoiled or bad. It wasn't vinegar. It was rather smooth and
"velvety". Had very good and distinctive taste. I have tried other wines since
then, but nothing like it. Didn't try any vintage since then, because it is
too expensive, and I am not that much into it (A $10 bottle is good enough for
me). But I always remember that as a fun story, how growing up as a family
barely able to scrape by, got to taste vintage 1960s wine.

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subnaught
Three years later, this is still an amazing story. It has less to do with wine
than with the ease with which certain types of people can be separated from
their money.

For the exceptionally curious, the message board thread referenced in the
article is still up:
[http://www.wineberserkers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=6117...](http://www.wineberserkers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=61172)

~~~
mikekchar
Wine is an area ripe for fraud. I seem to have inherited a fairly good palette
from my mother. I'm probably a super taster for some things (which is often
annoying as some smells are enough to strike me down when most other people
can't even detect them). Although I'm not super serious about it, I enjoy wine
and have been part of some wine appreciation societies.

There are a lot of people who are really passionate and knowledgeable about
wine. They are true experts in the area, but it is striking how often it
becomes apparent that they have a really serious physical handicap -- they
can't taste the wine. I'd like to invoke Dunning Kruger here, because these
experts are usually completely unaware that they can not taste the wine.
However, it is much more complicated than that.

As an example, imagine that you went to an art gallery. A crowd of people are
gathered around one picture. One person, obviously very knowledgeable about
art and art history is waxing poetic about the use of colour, the balance of
round shapes with square shapes and the almost beastial quality of the theme.
You look at the picture and instantly recognize it as "Dogs Playing Poker". Of
the 20-30 people looking at the picture, you realize that you are the only one
who can actually see the dogs and notice that they are playing poker.
Everybody else is entranced with vague, undefined shapes and mysterious
gradients of colour.

You say, "It's 'Dogs Playing Poker'" and the esteemed expert beams in your
direction saying, "You are absolutely right! Do you see the green here, it's
almost like the felt on a gambling table. These shapes here seem to be alive
with animal ferocity. I like your description of playing poker, as it fits
well with the whimsical nature of the composition." The others in the group
nod approvingly.

Someone who has a really good palette and who has trained it well can easily
tell who can taste the wine and who can't -- just in the same way that most
people can tell who is visually impaired and who isn't. And because the
ability to taste the wine to that level is really, really rare, the experts
who have a disability are often completely unaware of it -- they are miles
better than your average person who has not studied the subject every minute
of their adult life. So the wool is already over their eyes, so to speak.

The thing I'm incredulous about is the lack of due diligence from the auction
houses. Someone claims to be selling hundreds of thousands of dollars of
incredibly rare wine dating from WWII and before. When someone asks where a
wine was originally bought, the seller says he will have to look it up. There
is _no_ provenance at all!!! "Oh I just happened to have this bottle of 1923
Bordeaux in my basement". Pull the other one... So from that perspective, it
truly is amazing how gullible people are.

~~~
mc32
On the other hand people have curious tastes. I enjoy some "stinky" cheeses
but I do not enjoy "stinky" tofu. In a way, this illustrates that what is
palatable and refined is very whimsical.

In the middle ages, for example, sweet wines were drunk on special occasions.
Today, not many people would think too highly of sweet wines. So tastes
change. The point is there is no good and better wine, just wines you like
more and ones you like less, but for no discernible reason, other than present
"tastes."

~~~
VeejayRampay
Not many people would think too highly of sweet wines?

I might have a biased perspective because of my being French, but sweet wines
(in all its varieties) are rather sought after here. Wines like Montbazillac,
Loupiac, Pineau des Charentes, Sauternes, the wide gamut of wines from Alsace
and Jura are all respected and recognized as "the good stuff".

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fr0sty
This story reads a bit like a rehash of the Hardy "Jefferson Bottles"
Rodenstock story, right down to being tripped up by Bill Koch:

[http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/09/03/the-
jefferson-b...](http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/09/03/the-jefferson-
bottles)

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manigandham
There was a great recent podcast about Wine Fraud from How Stuff Works:
[http://www.stuffyoushouldknow.com/podcasts/how-wine-fraud-
wo...](http://www.stuffyoushouldknow.com/podcasts/how-wine-fraud-works/)

