Fake Wine & Sour Grapes

Master con artists intrigue us as long as they are tripping up others rather than ourselves. They create a dream world their victims are only too happy to believe in. The documentary Sour Grapes about the greatest wine con artist ever tells the story of such a talented swindler.

Good wine is expensive. Especially in the millennium year 2000, when a group of New Rich emerged who began buying expensive wines mainly as investments. The prices of famous wines shot through the roof, often making them unaffordable for genuine enthusiasts.

Lucrative

In 2000, wine auctions around the world brought in 92 million dollars; just before the global crisis of 2008, that figure was 478 million. And so it was only a matter of time before someone turned this into an even more lucrative business. Enter: Rudy Kurniawan, the Robin Hood of wine.

Rockstar of wine tasting Kurniawan conned the New Rich with fake wine.

Kurniawan is also known as the rockstar of wine tasting. Like a true artist, the Indonesian wine enthusiast, who posed as a ‘trust fund baby’, blended inferior wines until, in terms of taste, they could pass for vintages from renowned wineries. He sold these so-called grand crus for astronomical prices to members of old boys networks with pockets full of ‘fuck you money’, money they did not know what to do with.

Billionaire

Only someone with extensive knowledge of vintages and an exceptional palate is capable of doing something like this. Rudy Kurniawan was such a person. His ‘cellar finds’ ended up through auctions not with wine novices, but with above-average wine connoisseurs. Such as billionaire and wine collector Bill Koch, who bought more than 400 counterfeit bottles for a total of around 4 million dollars.

Even today, fake wines from the master con artist are still in circulation.

This could not continue forever. When Koch discovered that something was wrong with a label, the ball started rolling around 2011. Long story short: Rudy, who was living in America on a student visa, was exposed, and most of his highly drinkable ‘fake’ wines were destroyed. But to this day, there are still bottles of his in circulation. And there are stubborn believers in this generous, affable wine enthusiast.

Elegant hustle

The documentary Sour Grapes offers an intriguing reconstruction of Rudy’s rise and fall. And, just like those who exposed him, as a viewer you continue to admire the elegance of the hustle of this wine artist until the very end.

Sour Grapes

Directed by: Jerry Rothwell and Reuben Atlas; an international co-production with, among others, VPRO.
Broadcast: Wednesday, December 28, 10:40 p.m., NPO 2.
Images: Stills from Sour Grapes.