In Vino Duplicitas

Book excerpt: As seen on ABC’s The Con, an “engrossing account of wine fraud and forgery” that duped some of the biggest names in the elite world of wine collecting (Wall Street Journal) In 2002, Rudy Kurniawan, an unknown twentysomething, burst into the privileged world of ultrafine wines. Blessed with a virtuoso palate, and with a seemingly limitless supply of coveted bottles, Kurniawan quickly became the leading purveyor of rare wines to the American elite. But in April 2008, at a New York auction house, dozens of Kurniawan's trophy bottles were abruptly pulled from sale. Journalist Peter Hellman was there, and he began to investigate: Were the bottles fake? Were there others? And was Kurniawan himself duped by forgery...or had he ensnared the world's top winemakers, sellers, and drinkers in a web of deceit?