China's Counterfeit Wine Market Is Killing Wine

Counterfeit wine bottles. CBS NEWS

Nic Cavell, New Republic: How China Conquered France’s Wine Country

French connoisseurs sold the Chinese pomp and prestige, until they started manufacturing it themselves.

In 1996, Chinese premier Li Peng surprised his audience at the National People’s Congress by toasting the Ninth Five-Year Plan with red wine: “Drinking fruit wines is helpful to our health, does not waste grain, and is good for social ethics,” he announced. For China’s rapidly growing underclass, this gesture signaled a commitment to rein in the fraud and waste epitomized by party banquets, where officials were known to drink each other under the table with bottles of Moutai Flying Fairy and other spirits derived from grain. For the elites in question, it was an unmistakable signal that business as usual required a new currency. Within a few years, they were using bottles of Château Lafite Rothschild to gain favor and ease transactions.

Read more ....

Editor: The Chinese are not the only ones who are having problems with counterfeit wines .... Counterfeit wine: A vintage crime (CBS)

More News On The Rudy Kurniawan Wine Counterfeiting Arrest

More News On Rudy Kurniawan’s Wine Counterfeiting Arrest -- Dr. Vino

The story of Rudy Kurniawan’s arrest on charges of selling counterfeit wine has been all over the news since the FBI arrested him on Thursday. Here’s some of the recent action:

* WineDiaraist and Wine Spectator have published photos from federal prosecutors taken from the scene of the alleged crime; one of those, with stacks of Petrus 1950 and Lafleur 1947 labels among others, is reproduced above.

* The compliant states that Kurniawan had been living illegally in the US since 2003. He tallied $16 million in American Express bills between 2006 – 2011. He ran up $11 million of debt in 2007 alone. At the time of the arrest, he had a Lamborghini, a Mercedes-Benz and a Range Rover in the garage.

Read more ....

My Comment: Bottom line .... Rudy Kurniawan’s career as a wine expert is over.

The Growing Problem Of China's Counterfeit Wine

China's Faux Bordeaux Stirs Wine Market -- Reuters

(Reuters) - Master of Wine Jeannie Cho Lee could tell instantly when she tasted fake wine at a Hong Kong dinner party.

"Just from colour and the nose, once you taste it, it was confirmation that it wasn't the genuine wine," she said.

But not everyone possesses Lee's acumen. China's booming appetite for fine wine in recent years has fuelled a rampant counterfeit market that industry insiders fear could be turning local buyers off.

"What we're seeing across the country is a proliferation of knock-offs and copycats and outright counterfeit as the imported wine industry really explodes in this market," said Ian Ford of Summergate Fine Wines in Shanghai, adding that counterfeiters are taking advantage of inexperienced Chinese consumers.

Read more ....

My Comment: The Golden Rule is .... buy from a seller that you know and trust and who have a direct contact with the winery of your choosing.

How To Counterfeit Wine

Illustration by Luke McGarry

An Insider's Guide To Counterfeiting Wine -- Bloomberg Businessweek

Last week, the FBI arrested a 35-year-old millionaire wine dealer suspected of trying to sell $1.3 million in counterfeit wine. The high-profile case is just the latest illustration of the fraud that has spread across the wine world in the last few decades, affecting every corner from the booming Chinese market to the international auction circuit.

Given the prices collectors are willing to pay for high-end wine—bottles of the 1982 vintage of France’s grand crus, for example, can fetch between $2,000 and $5,000 depending on the trustworthiness of the provenance—selling counterfeit wine can be a lucrative business. Aspiring fraudsters need only a bit of know-how and a few hundred dollars of startup costs. Herewith, a rundown of some of their techniques.

Read more ....

My Comment: The penalties are too small .... and the rewards are incredible. What do you think is going to happen. As a wine collector, my blood boils when I read stories like this one.

Renowned Wine Collector Accused Of Selling Counterfeit Wine

Rudy Kurniawan, a wine collector, was arrested in Los Angeles by the F.B.I. Ricardo DeAratanha/Los Angeles Times

Renowned Wine Dealer Accused of Trying to Sell Counterfeits -- L.A. Times

Rudy Kurniawan had ascended to the upper reaches of the wine world on both coasts, renowned as much for his palate as for his eye, fixed often on the highest of high-end bottles.

His presence at auctions was constant, at events in Beverly Hills, and offerings at Sotheby’s in New York. His interest by itself was enough to drive prices at the top of the market.

And as his collection brought in millions, Mr. Kurniawan made a show of his own authenticity, offering major buyers an unconditional return policy — exceedingly rare in the industry — while attracting a clientele that included the billionaire William I. Koch.

Read more ....

More News On The Arrest Of Renowned Wine Dealer Accused of Trying to Sell Counterfeits

Influential L.A.-area wine collector accused of fraud -- L.A. Times
L.A. Wine Collector Accused of Trying to Sell More Than $1 Million in Counterfeit Wine -- ABC News
No bail for wine collector accused of fraud in NY -- Wall Street Journal
Wine Collector Faces Federal Fraud Charges -- Time/AP
Millionaire accused of trying to sell fake wine for $1.3m -- Independent
Prosecutors: Prominent wine collector sold $1.3 million worth of counterfeit bottles -- MSNBC
California man accused of trying to sell fake wine -- Reuters
Collector Rudy Kurniawan accused of counterfeiting over $1.3 mil worth of wine -- CBS/AP
Rudy Kurniawan Arrested: Indonesian Millionaire & Wine Collector Accused Of Passing Fake Bottles -- Huffington Post
Rudy Kurniawan Arrested by FBI on Numerous Fraud Charges -- The Wine Cellar
FBI Arrests Wine Collector Rudy Kurniawan -- Wine Spectator

My Comment: If this is true .... what can I say but what a waste.