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Home > Blogs > Uncorked > Archives > 2008 > May > 20 > Entry
Hook, line and sinker: the ‘Thomas Jefferson’ bottles
I had to chuckle when I opened my email this morning to find an ad accompanying Decanter.com’s daily news alert for a huge auction at Acker Merrall & Condit of fine and rare wines from the cellar of Dr. Bipin Desai, to be held tomorrow.
That’s because just a few short hours earlier, I finished reading and put down on my nightstand The Billionaire’s Vinegar: The Mystery of the World’s Most Expensive Bottle of Wine (Crown, $24.95), and Dr. Desai’s name pops up frequently in the book.
Desai’s integrity isn’t questioned in the book, but holy moly, Hardy Rodenstock’s sure is. Rodenstock is the German wine collector whose mammoth tastings were the stuff of legend, and his supposed find of a couple dozen bottles engraved with Thomas Jefferson’s initials rocked the wine world, especially after one of the bottles — a 1787 Ch. Lafite — was purchased in 1985 at auction for $156,000 by the son of Malcolm Forbes.
Author and journalist Benjamin Wallace digs deep into that sale and into the cast of characters (and egos) surrounding it. He meticulously and thoroughly investigates the charges that Rodenstock sold fraudulent bottles, including the 1787 Lafite, and lays out in a narrative, page-turner writing style, an astonishing tale of intrigue, greed, pride and ego.
That the tale sullies the reputations of the biggest names in the wine business — Michael Broadbent (especially), Marvin Shanken, Robert Parker and many more who should have known better — makes the tale even more fascinating. Suffice to say you’ll never look at an old, rare bottle — or at some of the world’s most influential wine critics — the same way again.
Thank goodness that the extensive list of wines to be auctioned tomorrow doesn’t include any 18th century “finds.”
In a Q&A written interview that accompanies the Crown Publishing press materials for the book, Wallace delivers a straightforward, one-word answer to the question: Do YOU think the Thomas Jefferson bottles are fake?
“Undoubtedly,” Wallace replies.
Is this book worth your time and effort to find and read?
Undoubtedly.
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By Peggy
May 21, 2008 2:11 PM | Link to this
Damn you local borders for not having this book in stock yet. Amazon it is. What can we do to ensure that bottles are in fact authentic?By Nancy Bentley
May 20, 2008 6:28 PM | Link to this
In this vein, has anyone ever compiled a “fun to read” book list about wine? I also nominate “The Judgment of Paris”.By Ed
May 20, 2008 5:14 PM | Link to this
I read with great interest a story on this you had linked a few months ago. This really was an amazing story. And, it would truly make me think twice before I would invest in pricey wines. It’s a leap of faith.