The Billionaire's Vinegar (31 page)

an assemblage of Pétrus
“A Taste of History…,”
Rarities
1, no. 1 (First Quarter, 1991).

old merchants’ catalogs
“A Taste of Deception,”
WS,
May 31, 1998.

argued that all the skeptics
Ibid.

“stupid assertion[s]”
Fax from Rodenstock to author, July 22, 2005.

three pre-phylloxera vintages
Lazarus, “A Taste of History…,”
Rarities
1, no. 1 (First Quarter, 1991).

Four experienced tasters thought
“Seemingly Ageless Latour Sparks Controversy,”
WS,
March 31, 1990.

The tasting notes of Givton
“A Taste of History…,”
Rarities
1, no. 1 (First Quarter, 1991).

“a Rolex bought in Hong Kong”
“Seemingly Ageless Latour…,”
WS,
March 31, 1990.

“What are we to conclude from all this?”
“A Taste of History…,”
Rarities
1, no. 1 (First Quarter, 1991).

a recipe for how to fake
Geoffrey Troy, “Another View,”
Rarities
1, no. 1 (First Quarter, 1991).

Broadbent defended the German
“Michael Broadbent of Christie’s Writes,”
Rarities
1, no. 2 (Second Quarter, 1991).

“rarity following a burglary at the château”
“Fine wine prices remain firm,”
Decanter,
December 1987.

“red wine believed to have belonged to Julius Caesar”
“Record Price for Caesar Bottle,”
WS,
April 1, 1989.

June 28, 1990, sale at Christie’s London
“’61 Bordeaux Still Tops in London,”
WS,
August 31, 1990.

“He became Molyneux-Berry when he went to Sotheby’s”
Molyneux-Berry says that he has always been called Molyneux-Berry.

Frericks had paid only
“Streit um alte Flaschen,”
Stern,
April 18, 1991.

Rodenstock had sold eighty bottles to Frericks
Ibid.

150,000 marks
“400 000 Mark—beim teuersten Wein der Welthört die Freundschaft auf…,”
MAZ,
February 28, 1991.

They included, besides the two Jefferson bottles
“The Mystery of the Lafite 1787,”
Decanter,
October 1992.

“significant doubt as to [the] origin”
“Streit um alte Flaschen,”
Stern,
April 18, 1991.

13. R
ADIOACTIVE

A number of details from the GSF bottle opening and analyses came from the report
“Weinprobe auf Wissenschanten-Art,”
and accompanying photographs, published in the institute’s newsletter,
gsf aktuell,
vol. X, June/July 1992; and two GSF research reports: H. Y. Göksu, D. F. Regulla, and A. Vogenauer, “Age Determination of Wine Sediments by Thermoluminescence Method” (GSF-Forschungszentrum für Umwelt und Gesundheit, Neuherberg); and Manfred Wolf, “Datierung des Bordeaux ‘1787 Lafitte Th.J.’ durch Kohlenstoff-14-und Tritiumanalysen” (GSFHY 1/93 Neuherberg [1993]).

Broadbent had flown in
December 7, 1991, letter from Broadbent to
Rarities
1, no. 3.

“I am not particularly impressed”
“‘Vintage’ wine,”
Times
(of London), December 15, 1990.

Wine Spectator
had run
a
cover story
March 15, 1991.

he insisted that he had sold
“400 000 Mark—beim teuersten…,”
MAZ,
February 28, 1991.

“friendship price”
“Rodenstocks 1787er Lafite,”
VIF-Gourmet Journal,
no. 3, 1993.

Frericks responded by obtaining a court order
“400 000 Mark—beim teuersten…,”
MAZ,
February 28, 1991.

withdrew his appeal
“400 000-Mark-Wein wird entkorkt: Leider fürs Labor,”
MAZ,
May 18, 1991.

pulled his bottles from Christie’s
“400 000 Mark—beim teuersten…,”
MAZ,
February 28, 1991.

before-and-after photos
“Der Fall Lafitte 1787 und die Folgen,”
Alles über Wein,
no. 4 (1992); “Ein edler Tropfen machte aus zwei Freunden Feinde,”
MAZ,
July 13, 1991; “The Mystery of the Lafite 1787,”
Decanter,
October 1992.

“I never had the bottles resealed or sealed” Bunte,
date unknown, p. 219.

It tasted, Broadbent said, like the Mouton “1787 Rodenstock Lafite Fails a Test,”
WS,
August 31, 1992.

“one thousand wines”
JMB,
New Great Vintage Wine Book,
436.

“was not aware of the significance”
Ibid., 437.

“ambitions to rank among”
Hans-Peter Frericks, “Presseerklärung,” June 23, 1992.

“the Konrad Kujau of the grapevine”
“Der teuerste Wein der Welt ist gepanscht,”
Münchner tageszeitung,
June 24, 1992.

sometimes claiming tax reasons
“Authentic Old Bottles, But Were They Jefferson’s?”
WS,
March 15, 1991.

he wanted to write about it himself
“400 000 Mark—beim teuersten…,”
MAZ,
February 28, 1991.

publicly called on Rodenstock
“Th.J., Fighting Words, and Tangled Vines,”
WS,
September 30, 1992.

Switzerland…severe disruptions in the old-wine market
Rudolf Knoll,
Vinum,
no. 9 (1992).

“There is almost no interest”
“New Tests on Jefferson Bottle Support Rodenstock,”
WS,
February 28, 1993.

“I just wish Hardy Rodenstock”
“A wine market as soft as Mr. Whippy,”
The Independent
(London), August 29, 1992.

14. L
ETTERS FROM
H
UBSI

“the renowned Jefferson Institute”
“Statements der Betroffenen,”
Alles über Wein,
no. 5 (1992).

the “assumption of many wine experts”
Rudolf Knoll,
Vinum,
no. 9 (1992).

“making a false public oath”
“Das Ende eines engewöhnlichen Weinkrimis,”
Falstaff,
no. 1 (1993).

Rodenstock sought to cast suspicion on GSF
“Statements der Betroffenen,”
Alles über Wein,
no. 5 (1992).

GSF responded that Broadbent
“Das Ende eines…,”
Falstaff,
no. 1 (1993).

The lead in the wine gsf aktuell,
June/July 1992.

thus evidence of tampering
“Das Ende eines…,”
Falstaff,
no. 1 (1993).

a police raid on GSF
“Der Wahrheit ein Stück näher,”
Alles über Wein,
no. 1 (1993).

“A reliable dealer”
“1787er Gepanscht,”
Weinwirtschaft Markt,
July 10, 1992.

“a photo montage” or “an optical trick”
“1787 Rodenstock Lafite Fails a Test,”
WS,
August 31, 1992.

a Bad Marienberg photo studio
“The Mystery of the Lafite 1787,”
Decanter,
October 1992; “Statements der Betroffenen,”
Alles über Wein,
no. 5, 1992.

Frericks’s lawyer retorted
Ibid.

“[Clearly] Mr. Frericks didn’t expect”
Ibid.

“I have sealed all the bottles”
“Jefferson’s Paris Wines Found,”
VWGJ,
Fall 1985.

Scheuermann then wrote an article
“Ein Weinstreit mit Nachspiel,”
Welt am Sonntag,
no. 26 (1992?).

“Somebody is carrying out active protection”
Knoll,
Vinum,
no. 9 (1992).

It is extremely important for the determination
“Verborgene Keller,”
Der Spiegel,
October 28, 1991.

Rodenstock had earlier suggested to
Der Spiegel Ibid.

“in case the scientists were to reveal”
Knoll,
Vinum,
no. 9 (1992).

“steaming turds”
“Verborgene Keller,”
Der Spiegel,
October 28, 1991.

Hubert Meier
Knoll,
Vinum,
no. 9 (1992).

“Hubsi”
“Nach den Umarmung die Schelt,”
Vinum,
no.3 (1992).

“Little Darling” Vinum,
no. 7 (1991).

“Uschi Berthold”
“Hubsi und Usch,”
Vinum,
no. 7 (1991).

“a very keen wine man”…Hall was going to test
“Response from Michael Broadbent,” August 12, 1992, letter to
Rarities
1, no. 4.

Eschnauer…rejected Rodenstock’s contention
“Verborgene Keller,”
Der Spiegel,
October 28, 1991.

“adulterated the wine or knowingly offered adulterated wine”
“Wine Lover’s Nose for Fakery Leads to Famous Bottles,”
Wall Street Journal,
September 1, 2006.

“wine couldn’t be younger than 1795”
“The Results of the New Tests,” December 15, 1992, letter from Rodenstock to Foley, published in
Rarities
2, no. 1.

Rodenstock gloated
Rodenstock’s January 21 and February 15, 1993, letters, and Broadbent’s February 23, 1993, letter, to Foley, published in
Rarities
2, no. 1.

Rodenstock and Frericks tentatively agreed
“Rodenstocks 1787er Lafite,”
VIF-Gourmet Journal,
no. 3 (1993).

“Churchill always said”
“Das Ende eines…,”
Falstaff,
no. 1 (1993).

an entirely personal tangent
“The Final Word on Hardy Rodenstock,”
Rarities
2, no. 1.

wouldn’t reach a final settlement until 1995
“Wine Lover’s Nose for Fakery…,”
Wall Street Journal,
September 1, 2006.

Rodenstock claimed that his business
“The Final Word on Hardy Rodenstock,”
Rarities
2, no. 1.

“the awe-inspiring vulgarity”
“Les Cinq À Tokyo,”
Decanter,
July 1993.

“extraordinary charm and graciousness”
“What About Now?”
The Wine Advocate,
issue 103.

captured him and Rodenstock
“Das Münchener Weinwochenende” (photo),
Falstaff,
no. 1, 1996.

15. “A
WASH IN
F
AKES”

auction totals in the United States
“Grand Totals,”
WS,
February 28, 1997.

In 1996, worldwide wine auction sales
Ibid.

a case of six magnums of ’82 Le Pin
Ibid.

a case of ’45 Mouton
Ibid.

“If the trail goes dead”
“Compared with bank notes, faking a Le Pin label is a doddle,”
Daily Telegraph,
April 19, 1997.

“awash in fakes”
“A Taste of Deception,”
WS,
May 31, 1998.

an essay titled “In Vino Veritas?” The Wine Advocate,
issue 105.

French police arrested
“Cru Bogus,”
Decanter,
1986(?).

seventy cases
“How Château Pétrus Became Bordeaux’s Most Coveted Wine,”
WS,
February 15, 1991.

five cases of 1986 DRC Montrachet
“A Wine Whodunit with DRC,”
WS,
October 30, 1990.

In 1995, at a dinner in Hong Kong
“Compared with bank notes…,”
Daily Telegraph,
April 19, 1997.

In 1996 an attempt to sell fake
Ibid.

In the late 1990s a London customer
“A Taste of Deception,”
WS,
May 31, 1998.

In March of 1998, Langton’s
“Australian police investigate fake wine racket,” BBC News, March 18, 1998; “Fighting forgery,”
Wine International,
December 22, 2004.

In 1985 two American businessmen
“Reducing the Old-Wine Risk,”
WS,
June 30, 1992.

a bottle of 1947 Romanée-Conti
“Beware of Bogus DRC Bottles,”
WS,
November 30, 1990; John Tilson, “Another View,”
Rarities
1, no. 1 (First Quarter, 1991).

Impériale of 1947 Cheval Blanc…1908 Port
“A Taste of Deception,”
WS,
May 31, 1998.

A German restaurant was reported
Ibid.

Serena Sutcliffe was convinced
Ibid.

Colin Lutman, an English forger of Port
“The Case of the Exploding Bottle,”
Decanter,
September 1987.

At the molecular level
“‘Vintage’ wine,”
Times
(of London), December 15, 1990.

Émile Peynaud…once conducted an experiment
Author interview with Alexandre de Lur Saluces, February 16, 2006.

“German sommelier with a vast knowledge”
“A Taste of Deception,”
WS,
May 31, 1998.

In the Mouton episode in 1982
“Counterfeit Wine,”
Vintage Wine,
October 1982.

The 1981 and 1982 Pétrus
“How Château Pétrus Became Bordeaux’s Most Coveted Wine,”
WS,
February 15, 1991.

The fraudsters behind
“Fighting Forgery,”
Wine International,
December 22, 2004.

cases, packing tissue, and corks
“Security Packaging Offers Brand Protection,”
Wines & Vines,
May 2006.

incorrectly colored bar codes
“In Vino Falsitas,”
forbes.com
, May 26, 2003.

the Japanese customer noticed
John Tilson, “Another View,”
Rarities
1, no. 1 (First Quarter, 1991).

a Jéroboam of 1869 Mouton
This is according to Littler; JMB recalls it as a 1920s vintage.

When the police arrived
“‘Vintage’ wine,”
Times
(of London), December 15, 1990.

“a shipment of sardines”
Simon Loftus,
Anatomy of the Wine Trade
(Harper & Row, 1985), 77.

nuclear magnetic resonance
“‘Vintage’ wine,”
Times
(of London), December 15, 1990.

leading châteaux had become suspicious
Ibid.

FBI and New Scotland Yard
“A Taste of Deception,” May 31, 1998.

Baltimore Sun
article
“Toasted in Old Madeira,” October 11, 1904.