For The Love Of Port

Tom Archer wrote:The big boys are taking this seriously...

http://view.sothebys-email.com/?j=fe951 ... 747c1c&r=0

All of the details will eventually come out, but I have written proof in hand (from Acker Merrall who released their liens after the sales by Christies--you can find copies here by searching the name Kurniawan: http://appsext7.dos.ny.gov/pls/ucc_publ ... main_frame) that show that Christies continued to sell millions of dollars worth of Rudy's wines in New York, in Hong Kong and even in London throughout 2009 and 2010. Christie's NY sold Rudy's' wines, consigned directly from him, on Sept 12, 2009, Oct 15, 2009, Dec 9, 2009, Feb. 27, 2010 and December 10, 2010. Christie's also sold Rudy's wines in London on November 5, 2009 and in Hong Kong on November 26, 2010. Without having even processed the 2010 sales yet, I know the total for 2009 was over $2.1 million without premium. There could also be other sales that I don't have records on because they didn't involve Acker's security interest (which was only filed in NY and not in California).

Zachys also continued offering Rudy's wines (obtained through Antonio Castanos) in multiple sales occurring after the April 25, 2008 (the date of the Kurniawan-Rosania auction at Acker) and until as recently as May 2011. No, I don't yet know the totals on those sales, but they are substantial.

Even Acker, which claimed to not be dealing with Mr. Kurniawan and his wines anymore after obtaining a judgment against him, has sold wines that Mr. Kapon knew originated from Antonio Castanos as recently as December 8, 2011. On that date Acker Merrall sold what was described as an original wood case of 62 Romanée Conti in Hong Kong for just a few dollars short of $200,000. The catalog described the lot as follows:

"AN ORIGINAL WOODEN CASE OF THE LEGENDARY 1962 DRC ROMANEE CONTI
This gorgeous case comes to us from deep within the heart of Switzerland, where it has been nestled away safely under ideal conditions, waiting for this moment. 1962 has been considered to be the best vintage of the decade by many Burgundy lovers for years, and this is, without question, the top of the mountain. Upon inspection, Gil called me to tell me how excited he was to have this case in his hands, and that it was ‘the most beautiful case of RC I have ever seen!” See for yourself; even better, drink for yourself and your friends! A true legend, incredibly rare in case format."

Just after the catalog came out, Mr. Kapon received emails from two people in the industry advising him that Antonio Castanos had offered the same case with the same numbered bottles in January of 2011 and including the photographs to prove it. The email also advised Acker that these botles had originated from Rudy and that they had subsequently been shipped to the UK where they were offered by Farr, who pulled the bottles from offer after learning the source. One thing is 100% clear -- those bottles were not in Switzerland from the time of release, as suggested by the catalog. They hadn't even been in Switerland longer than a few months at best.

Moreover, contrary to Gil Lempert-Schwarz's comments, these bottles had many of the same defects as the 62 Romanée Conti wines in the Spectrum auction which were withdrawn. That includes (1) the labels are missing the Aigu emphasis mark on Romanée Conti on the Appellation Controlée line; (2) they have four digit bottle numbers (when there should be five) which do not horizontally or vertically align; (3) Année 1962 does not align and the 62 is higher than the 19 on the date; (4) this was allegedly an Italian export bottle with Gaja strip label (Gaja was Leroy's agent in Italy for some time), yet it has "Produce of France" printed in English on the label; and (5) the most comical of all, this case, with what is supposed to be a 47 year old wood box, has brand new strip labels with unoxidized paper which have been printed on a Laser printer using a proportionally spaced font and full justification. Go check out the catalog photos for yourself. http://www.ackerwines.com/catalogs/pdf_ ... ESSION.pdf Its Lot 650A.

Tom, from my perspective, there are major, major problems in the wine auction industry and only a few of the houses seem free of the Rudy taint.

Andy Velebil wrote:That is a carefully worded reply. Notice they didnt mention anything about Rudy selling through his assistant or agent.

On an important related note, many of you may recall that during the Greenberg trial, the jury was presented with evidence that eight of the twentyfour counterfeit bottles which Greenberg sold and which Koch purchased at the Zachy's 2005 auction had Bordeaux Wine Locators strip labels on them, which Greenberg testified was "the worst counterfeiting operation in the world." (However, Mr. Greenberg said nothing to Zachy's about his suspicions about the Bordeaux Wine Locators bottles.) To complete the circle, in paragraph 29 of his Second Amended Complaint Mr. Koch alleges as follows: "Other entities also imported Rodenstock’s wine to the United States, but in smaller proportions. Such entities include Bordeaux Wine Locators; Farr Vintners, Ltd.; and JEB Wine Trading, Ltd." In his Opposition to Royal's motion for summary judgment Koch also states that "Bordeaux Wine Locators, [] is believed to be a customer of Royal’s who resold, through another intermediary, some of the counterfeit wines at issue in this case to Koch."

(1) Royal [Wine Merchants] imported at least 2,067 bottles of wine from Hardy Rodenstock, most of which were in magnums or larger bottles, during a relationship that lasted from 1998 through at least 2009 and ended only when Rodenstock disappeared;

(5) Despite having knowledge from multiple articles in the press and receiving complaints from customers who purchased Rodenstock bottles that Rodenstock was selling counterfeit wines, Royal continued importing wine from Rodenstock through 2009. [Koch's evidence shows that at least four companies – Wine Library of Sonoma, Park Avenue Liquors, Wine Connection (Pound Ridge NY) and Southern Wine & Spirits, and six different individuals returned wines that had been imported and sold by Royal because they were counterfeit. One of the companies (Wine Connection) returned wines four different times on behalf of customers over a decade. The individual complaints included Eric Greenberg’s written complaint in 2003 that between $900,000 and $2.1 million of the wine he purchased from Royal was counterfeit];