Classic Wines

Sorry All of Our Wines Were Fake

By now most of us have read about the Ponsot that was pulled from the Acker Merrall & Conditt auction back in April. Twenty-two lots of Ponsot that was estimated to be worth well north of half a million dollars was pulled during the auction at the request of Ponsot. It seems that some fakes were apparent in the line up. So they must have been some pretty tough ones to get past the Compliance and Liability department of AM&C right?

Wrong.

Laurent Ponsot himself called the auction house to let them know that some of the wines being offered were label from vintages that were never produced. 1) Clos St. Denis was not a bottling that Ponsot offered until 1982, yet AM&C had lots ranging from 1945 to 1971. 2) Oh and a '29 that could not be since the first estate bottling didn't occur until 1934. The kicker? The AM&C catalog even said as much within its covers ( download pdf - read the last sentence, first paragraph on page 50.) 3) Other bottles were imprinted with "Reserve Nicolas" indicating a direct sale to Nicolas, which according to Ponsot, never happened, so why would they label it such? 4) Some '62's had red wax (which is a favorite among counterfeiters - it hides a cork that is not genuine, can easily be "antiqued" and just looks old world and lavish) covering the cork and bottle neck, which was never used by the Domaine, only old leaded foil. 5) Still others bore some labels that simply could not be based on the fact the labels from that era were hand stamped and hand signed.

Nice.

So how did AM&C defend itself? They sad that they ask their consignors to supply bottles for "inspection" - which means all the big boys get together, with an expert or two present, and plow through a case of wine. Regrettably, Allen Meadows, who I respect highly, is mentioned throughout the auction catalog. I feel for him. I know I would have a hard time determining a fake from real with most wines, let alone wines that were produced before I was. I feel for him, though I think he will emerge unscathed.

While no one really blames the guy who supplies the wine for sale, the burden of proof falls on the auction house, but to date it has been an unspoken case of buyer beware. It is also interesting to note that the owner of the wines, Rudy Kurniawan, was heavily courted by AM&C to release these wines for sale to them, ( download pdf - read halfway down of the first paragraph on page 42) so AM&C was in no way suspicious, and perhaps more damaging, overly motivated to sell these wines which may have precluded from saving face by making the simplest of efforts to validate these wines, making a phone call to the Domaine itself.

Let's not forget that this is the same auction house that is being sued into the grave by William Koch for selling him what are as yet unauthenticated bottles of wine that was supposedly from Thomas Jefferson's private cellar, which would date them from the late 1700's. These wines were brokered by the now infamous Hardy Rodenstock who has pretty much turtled in the face of all this.

So. Why would AM&C make such a huge blunder? Do they not possess the resources to examine their lots, and reflect them against known vintages from highly sought after producers? I think not, and if so, I would be wary of buying from them. Perhaps the lure of selling such gems, the prestige of offering wines that the two big boy houses cannot get a hold of is just too strong, and they succumb to the same illness that overtook the buyers before them.

This isn't just an AM&C issue. Anytime you have highly sought after items that existed in a pre-tech world, that are as subjective as wine, you are going to have those who will capitalize on that in such unscrupulous ways. Many respected people have tasted wines from this collection, and many agree that if they are fakes (which by now is a foregone conclusion,) they were good ones if not for the counterfeiters lack of doing their homework vintage and label-wise, then by the fact that they used some pretty good juice to fill said bottles with. This will make it difficult. Think of the guy who uses old Bordeaux from a similar vintage to Petrus, but from a lesser estate. You may still have juice worth hundreds of dollars, but it is being sold as something worth thousands, even more. Many agree that the bottles of Ponsot that were drunk prior to sale were still representative of their regions and vintages. Imagine when, not if, someone figures out how to make a Cubic Zirconium with small inclusions and other markers that will fool the experts...

The fact that these wines 1) made it into the cellar of a respected collector, and 2) then made it almost to auction were it not for the diligence of the Domaine in protecting it's name, 3) were enjoyed and "blessed" by some of the best palates in the industry speaks to the brazen confidence of the counterfeiters that is supported by a market's insatiable demand for all that is rare and desirable.

Truly, this is a world of buyer beware. Know what you are buying, who you are buying it from and your options should they prove to be something other than genuine.

This will not be the last time I write about this.