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V11 2008 INDEX
E-SYLUM ARCHIVE
THE CASE OF THE BOGUS BORDEAUX
It's not numismatic, but an article in Business Week
magazine highlights a book about counterfeiting in another high-priced
hobby - wine collecting.
The family of the late media mogul Malcolm
Forbes made headlines in 1985 when it paid at auction the record sum of
$156,000 for a single bottle of wine. But this was no vin ordinaire. The
1787 Chateau Lafite Bordeaux was believed to have been owned by President
Thomas Jefferson before it slipped from sight, only to be found almost two
centuries later in the basement of a building being demolished in Paris.
At least that was the story that spurred the Forbes clan and a parade of
other moneyed—if not very diligent—wine aficionados to go to great lengths
to own this and the two dozen other bottles sharing its supposed
provenance. The twisted saga of how the Jefferson bottles first enthralled and then shamed the world of fine wine is the subject of Benjamin Wallace's fascinating The Billionaire's Vinegar: The Mystery of the World's Most Expensive Bottle of Wine. With plenty of detail, richly quirky characters, and restrained pacing, Wallace introduces us to the rarefied world of high-end wine. Part detective story, part wine history, this is one juicy tale, even for those with no interest in the fruit of the vine.
At the center of the story is Hardy Rodenstock, a secretive German manager of pop bands with an uncanny knack for ferreting out very old bottles of fine French wine—especially those predating the phylloxera epidemic that decimated European grape vines in the late 1800s. Not only was Rodenstock a whiz at finding scarce 18th and 19th century bottles, he could unearth them in the rare, oversize bottles (magnums or jeroboams, for instance) most prized for their aging potential. "It seemed strange that the bottle hunter raising his shovel in triumph was invariably Hardy Rodenstock," Wallace writes.
How could this happen to so many people who should have known better? Wallace blames it on the all-too-human desire to possess something that others cannot. To be able to quaff a vintage chosen by early America's greatest statesman and foremost connoisseur is something only a few can hope to experience. And that tantalizing bait made these well-heeled oenophiles almost-too-willing victims. "As with all successful cons, the marks and grifter had been collaborators," writes the author. "One sold the illusion that the others were desperate to buy." Luckily for readers, Wallace has made the unmasking of this deceit as delicious as a true vintage Lafite.
To read the complete article, see: The Case of the Bogus Bordeaux
Wayne Homren, Editor
The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.
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