Bogus Bottles of Wine

[K8memphis]

Here's the link for the story.

But it seems what happened is that alledgedly Thomas Jefferson's initials were inscribed in these bottles of wine and this guy spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on them and he's now suing and the wine deal is being investigated by the FBI now.

Koch, a president of a Florida-based global mining and energy firm and a former America's Cup winner, said in an interview that he believes he was duped because his wine expertise stems from taste rather than a connoisseur's eye for the label color, cork consistency or bottle shape.

Experts recently sifted through his lavish wine collection and discovered numerous fake bottles, said Koch, a history buff who also owns a hunting rifle once used by Gen. George A. Custer.

Questions about the authenticity of the four Jefferson bottles, two from 1784 and two from 1787 with labels from Chateau Lafite and Mouton, surfaced in 2005 when Koch was asked to display his celebrated wine bottles at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

Koch said he had purchased the bottles from two wine dealers. Both vouched for their authenticity and stated they had originated from German wine merchant Hardy Rodenstock, according to his lawsuit.

Koch said Rodenstock's story appeared legitimate. In addition to the age of the bottles and Jefferson's initials, the future president was an avid wine collector who lived in Paris in the late 1700s when he was the United States Minister to France.

But experts later determined the initials were engraved by electric power tools not available at the time, according to the lawsuit. Additionally, experts at Jefferson's Virginia museum-home at Monticello said there is no historic evidence that Jefferson ever engraved his initials on any bottles of wine.

Five bottles at $100,000 a piece. Think I'll stick to Diet Coke.

Edited March 7, 2007 by K8memphis (log)

[Wickmans]

In Australia, Penfolds now etch each bottle they produce with the name of the wine and its vintage.