Counterfeit Wine is Fascinating

Buying fake wine is not a problem you or I are likely to have, but it is fascinating nonetheless. Unscrupulous people have created fake bottles of rare, old, or expensive wines by blending together other wines and putting them into bottles made to look like the real thing. These counterfeiters age the bottles and labels, and sometimes buy bottles of the real wines to drink and refill with their imitation blend. To do this successfully takes a lot of wine expertise and a lot of startup money. These people are usually looking to make a buck, but they seem to also get a kick out of the prestige of circulating with the top collectors, critics, and writers of the wine world and offering up impressive (fake) bottles for tastings and auctions.

So many aspects of this are fascinating to me:  the process of creating a believable fake, the way the counterfeiters ingratiate themselves with collectors and experts so that the bottles they produce will be accepted as authentic, and the forensic detective work that can unmask the frauds. Another attractive aspect may be that I don't expect to ever have to worry that a wine I'm buying is a fake, for the simple reason that I doubt I'll ever buy a wine so expensive that a wine counterfeiter would bother to fake it. Creating a fake wine is only worthwhile at the very top of the wine market, where wealthy collectors are spending thousands per bottle.

I can recommend a great book and a great movie about fake wine. The Billionaire's Vinegar is an excellent wine detective story that begins with a bottle supposedly once owned by Thomas Jefferson. A wine aficionado will recognize many of the names and places, but no wine knowledge is necessary to enjoy the story. (A movie of the book has been listed on imdb.com as "in development" for several years. Matthew McConaughey was set to star at one time.)

A great documentary about another massive wine fraud is Sour Grapes, which is currently available to stream on Netflix. Here's the trailer:

Either of these would be a great way to spend a few hours during your holiday time off, and the book would make a great gift.

Experiencing Bordeaux in Books and Movies

When I travel, I like to learn as much as I can about the place I'm visiting before I go. A fun way to do that is through books and movies. Here's a collection of fiction and non-fiction books and movies I'm interested in reading and watching before I visit Bordeaux in 2017. (I'm assembling a group to go on a tour, and we still have spaces available. Email me if you're interested!)

I've marked the ones I've read or seen (*) and added a personal review, and I'll update this post as I make progress on the list.

Film Review: Red Obsession

If you follow any wine news, you’ve probably heard of the growing Chinese influence in the wine market, especially in Bordeaux.  Red Obsession opens with a parade of Bordeaux wine makers, wine critics, authors, and Francis Coppola (!) waxing poetic about the greatness of Bordeaux.  They talk of “magic,” “love,” “soul,” “miracle,” and use musical metaphors.  Just as I was getting impatient with the flattery, the real story begins with a short history of Bordeaux and a fast-forward to the en primeur event in 2010.  En primeur happens every year in Bordeaux.  Critics, journalists, and buyers are invited to taste the unfinished wines before their release.  Based on the response, the chateaux set their prices for the year.  Enter China’s nouveau riche, for whom no price seems too high for their favorite wine.

This documentary covers an amazing amount of ground in a short time.  How did the Chinese become so important in the fine wine market so suddenly?  Why do they love Bordeaux in general, and Lafite in particular?  Is there a downside to this new source of money and attention for Bordeaux winemakers?  Where does this leave Bordeaux’s former largest market, the United States?  What’s next for China, as it is poised to become the world’s largest wine market and a new producer of wine itself?

The filmmakers travel the world and interview an impressive array of experts and industry insiders, looking for the answers to all these questions.  I’ll admit that before watching Red Obsession, my knowledge of the Bordeaux-China connection was limited to the fact that the Chinese really like Bordeaux and are willing to pay high prices for it.  The film is packed with details and explanations that will be interesting even to those more familiar with the subject than I was, such as cultural factors, business interests, and the influence of westernization.  Though the subject seems narrow, the film provides so much context that it also educates its audience about the French wine industry, the Chinese wine market, and the emerging Chinese wine industry overall.  If you have any interest in these subjects, Red Obsession is worth 75 minutes of your time.

(Not Rated, 2013, 75 minutes, Directed by Warwick Ross and David Roach, Narrated by Russell Crowe)

Film Review: SOMM

Four sommeliers attempt to pass the prestigious Master Sommelier exam, a test with one of the lowest pass rates in the world.

I had been hearing good reviews of SOMM for a couple of years and finally got around to watching it this past weekend.  The film tells the story of 4 men who are studying to pass the extremely difficult exam to earn the title of Master Sommelier.  (Click here for an overview of wine certifications.)  The exam has 3 sections:  theory, service, and blind tasting.

The film follows the Master Sommelier candidates as they study together, taste (and spit) late into the evenings, and make thousands of flash cards.  What could have become monotonous scenes of guys talking and tasting are made compelling because, whether or not you’re interested in wine, it’s fun to watch passionate people who are experts in a field doing what they do best. The talking/tasting scenes are also intercut with footage of the wine-making process and animated maps of wine regions.  The transitional shots of wine glasses exploding in slow-motion were pretty cool too.  I will never take this wine exam, but as a wine student who’s taken 6 other exams so far, I sympathize with these guys and their obsessive studying.  (In fact, this is exactly why I started making wine cheat sheets.) 

The guys are also sympathetic because the odds are against them:  this exam has a pass rate of 10%.  We see the sacrifices they’ve made to study and prepare, we see what this dream has required of them, and the impact it’s had on their relationships and families, and we want them to get through it and succeed.  Some might say they’re crazy and should quit, but I think most of us have a soft spot for someone fully committed to a big dream who’s willing to work extremely hard (possibly to a crazy degree) to make it happen.

I like that the film shows the analytical and deductive tasting process, and emphasizes that it’s about training, not talent.  I also like that they made fun of some of the sillier tasting terms that don’t mean anything – like “my grandmother’s closet.”  (In my International Sommelier Guild class we were taught to use aroma/flavor descriptors that will mean something to another person.  If the point is to communicate how the wine smells/tastes, then you have to be comprehensible to someone other than yourself.)

Mixed in with all the stress and studying, SOMM conveys one of my favorite things about wine:  the way it can only be fully understood when you learn the history, geology, geography, and culture of where the grapes are grown and the wine is made.  At the same time, you have to consider the modern technology involved and the global business aspects of the industry.  It’s incredibly complex, and there’s a lot to know, and that’s why the test is so hard.

I think it’s worth mentioning my husband’s viewpoint.  He’s not a wine aficionado, other than what he’s picked up from living with me, but he IS a certified film snob who has made his own independent films and written a lot of film criticism.  Film Snob Husband gave SOMM ***1/2 stars out of ****, and appreciates that it doesn’t skimp on the “shop talk.”  So many reality shows and documentaries gloss over the actual work being done, in favor of trying to create drama by focusing on the personalities, relationships, or competition involved.  Film Snob Husband and I both prefer the style of SOMM, where we’re a fly on the wall in a world we’d otherwise never get to see.

Here's the trailer:

(SOMM:  Not Rated, 2012, 93 minutes, Directed by Jason Wise, Starring Brian McLintic, Dustin Wilson, Ian Cauble)