June 4, 2008
Provenance - According to experts (okay Wikipedia), the word means the origin or the source of something, or the history of the ownership. The new book ‘The Billionaire’s Vinegar’ by Benjamin Wallace is a quick read BUT in case you don’t… .here’s the highlights. A single 750ml bottle of wine is auctioned off for $156,000. The buyer was Kip Forbes and the year was 1987. Okay, maybe not the biggest surprise that it was purchased by a member of the Forbes family, but 1987? This definitely sounds like something that would have taken place in the late 90’s with all that new dot com wealth. The bottle was a 1787 Château Lafite Bordeaux — supposedly owned by Thomas Jefferson. Wine collector Hardy Rodenstock (very, very shady) supplies the wine. Rodenstock never reveals A) where the wine orginated or B) the quantity of Thomas Jefferson’s wine that he owns. Over the years, close to 30 bottles from the Rodenstock ‘Thomas Jefferson collection’ enters the market (tastings, private sales, etc..) Who bought them (that we might be familiar with) ? Marvin Shanken (Wine Spectator), Bill Koch (heir to a fortune). Lesson #1 - If you buy very old wine, then provenance (see above) SHOULD be important to you. Koch spends more money to investigate Rodenstock than he actually lost by buying fake wines. The wine was tested for tritium… huh? Quick background: It’s an unstable element that had risen in atmospheric concentration starting in 1945, when the first atomic bond was detonated, and peaked in 1963….(I could go on but it’s rather boring). So why does tritium matter? The argument is that the wine counterfeiter(s) wouldn’t go through all the trouble to put decades old vino in the fake bottles. So basically they tested for radiation in the wine bottle to see if it was wine juice post 1945. (The biggest problem with conducting these and other tests is that it results in a ruined wine. You’ve got to open it to figure out if it’s real/fake.) In the late 90’s, scientists identify a better method of dating wine via cesium-137, another radioactive isotope (science nerds rejoice everywhere). Cesium testing is better because it provides even greater accuracy of the wine vintage as long as it was produced after 1952 (the 1st hydrogen bomb test). EVEN BETTER: Casium testing could be done from the outside of the bottle, no longer requiring the bottle to be opened and thus destroyed. After several inconclusive tests with the ‘Thomas Jefferson’ bottles owned by Koch, an engraving expert and a tool-mark specialist with the FBI were called in to investigate. The results: the bottles had clearly been engraved by a modern method such as a power tool with a flexible shaft….probably a dental drill. So what happened? Rodenstock didn’t go to jail, although it is safe to say that he will have trouble selling any additional ‘Thomas Jefferson’ wines in the near future. Although Koch’s win didn’t result in a a monetary gain from his pursuit of Rodenstock, the thrill of the chase and public scorn of the European fraudster was more than enough to make it worthwhile Lesson #2 - Don’t piss off a guy with personal wealth of $1.4B. Finally, this tale is not over. The screen rights of the book have been optioned and Will Smith (Pursuit of Happyness, Bad Boys 2) has been linked to the production!!!  For more information on this great book and it’s supporting cast, click the above picture of the book. Cheers!

Provenance - According to experts (okay Wikipedia), the word means the origin or the source of something, or the history of the ownership.

The new book ‘The Billionaire’s Vinegar’ by Benjamin Wallace is a quick read BUT in case you don’t… .here’s the highlights.

  • A single 750ml bottle of wine is auctioned off for $156,000.
  • The buyer was Kip Forbes and the year was 1987. Okay, maybe not the biggest surprise that it was purchased by a member of the Forbes family, but 1987? This definitely sounds like something that would have taken place in the late 90’s with all that new dot com wealth.
  • The bottle was a 1787 Château Lafite Bordeaux — supposedly owned by Thomas Jefferson.
  • Wine collector Hardy Rodenstock (very, very shady) supplies the wine.
  • Rodenstock never reveals A) where the wine orginated or B) the quantity of Thomas Jefferson’s wine that he owns.
  • Over the years, close to 30 bottles from the Rodenstock ‘Thomas Jefferson collection’ enters the market (tastings, private sales, etc..)
  • Who bought them (that we might be familiar with) ? Marvin Shanken (Wine Spectator), Bill Koch (heir to a fortune).

Lesson #1 - If you buy very old wine, then provenance (see above) SHOULD be important to you.

  • Koch spends more money to investigate Rodenstock than he actually lost by buying fake wines.
  • The wine was tested for tritium… huh? Quick background: It’s an unstable element that had risen in atmospheric concentration starting in 1945, when the first atomic bond was detonated, and peaked in 1963….(I could go on but it’s rather boring). So why does tritium matter? The argument is that the wine counterfeiter(s) wouldn’t go through all the trouble to put decades old vino in the fake bottles. So basically they tested for radiation in the wine bottle to see if it was wine juice post 1945. (The biggest problem with conducting these and other tests is that it results in a ruined wine. You’ve got to open it to figure out if it’s real/fake.)
  • In the late 90’s, scientists identify a better method of dating wine via cesium-137, another radioactive isotope (science nerds rejoice everywhere). Cesium testing is better because it provides even greater accuracy of the wine vintage as long as it was produced after 1952 (the 1st hydrogen bomb test). EVEN BETTER: Casium testing could be done from the outside of the bottle, no longer requiring the bottle to be opened and thus destroyed.
  • After several inconclusive tests with the ‘Thomas Jefferson’ bottles owned by Koch, an engraving expert and a tool-mark specialist with the FBI were called in to investigate. The results: the bottles had clearly been engraved by a modern method such as a power tool with a flexible shaft….probably a dental drill.
  • So what happened? Rodenstock didn’t go to jail, although it is safe to say that he will have trouble selling any additional ‘Thomas Jefferson’ wines in the near future. Although Koch’s win didn’t result in a a monetary gain from his pursuit of Rodenstock, the thrill of the chase and public scorn of the European fraudster was more than enough to make it worthwhile

Lesson #2 - Don’t piss off a guy with personal wealth of $1.4B.

    Finally, this tale is not over. The screen rights of the book have been optioned and Will Smith (Pursuit of Happyness, Bad Boys 2) has been linked to the production!!!  For more information on this great book and it’s supporting cast, click the above picture of the book. Cheers!

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