Like most people during lockdowns and quarantines, I found myself scanning Netflix a little more frequently,

Like most people during lockdowns and quarantines, I found myself scanning Netflix a little more frequently, quickly becoming immersed in one of the sites recommendations.
It was a completely unfamiliar documentary that managed to slide right into my top picks. Titled Sour Grapes, the documentary made it’s theatrical debut four years ago in 2016. If you would rather see the documentary completely green, watch and come back to this article; caution, spoilers ahead.
Sour Grapes centers around the high priced wine trade, and a connoisseur named Rudy Kurniawan, blessed with a sophisticated, discerning palate for exotic vintages. His birth name however, was Zhen Wang Huang. Lawyers claimed the name change came courtesy of his father, protecting a boy of Chinese decent from discrimination while living in Malaysia.
According to the documentary, the family had a history of high crime; Rudy’s uncles defrauded Malaysian banks to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. In the case of Rudy Kurniawan, fraud would become his profession, sustaining the family business.
When a good scam goes wrong
An interesting feature of the documentary was a gross lack in a tragic figure. Not one person to feel sorry for. It’s hard to empathize with those drinking the equivalent value of an average person’s home, or entire net worth, in wine, on a random Wednesday. The circles Rudy ran in would routinely host events for a handful of “collectors”. Eating, drinking, laughing, and boosting about the sheer volume and value of wine they were consuming.

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This was all going down in the early 2000s, well before the 2008 financial collapse; not that it matters when it comes to the finances of the .1%. These are people who typically grow richer while others faced layoffs and foreclosures.
Like any party ever thrown, the music inevitably came to a stop. Two people; a wealthy wine collector, and a French wine maker would ultimately pull the plug.
When billionaire Bill Koch, brother of political influencers Charles and David, better known as “The Koch Brothers”, discovered his wine cellar contained more than four million dollars in fakes, he enlisted help. Using private investigators, cork, label, and bottle experts, as well as depositions, Bill Koch would help expose Rudy Kurniawan as a fraud.
The other crucial piece of evidence came from a misstep by Rudy and the auctioneer Acker Merrall & Condit who had broke records selling thirty-five million dollars’ worth from his questionable collection. The lots included bottles of the coveted Domaine Ponsot Clos Saint-Denis, from the years 1945, 1949, and 1966. The problem, as Ponsot himself pointed out, the vintner did not start producing that particular wine until 1982.
Ponsot and Koch, separately, but in the end collectively, exposed enough fraudulent sales and counterfeit bottles to necessitate a raid. What the feds found in Rudy’s mansion would ultimately seal his fate. Authorities uncovered piles of labels, bags of corks, crates of bottles, mixing tools, and of course wine; all of which helped Rudy reproduce expensive and rare makes through his discerning palate and much cheaper substitutes.
Rudy would become the first person in the history of the United States charged with wine fraud, sentenced in 2014 to serve ten years in a California prison, where he remains today.
For anyone listening, or asking the right questions, Rudy revealed himself well before his trial.
Almost every scammer admits to their scam
It didn’t take a sophisticated palate, or even a discerning ear, to reveal genuine from fake; the fraud was exposed early, and by Rudy Kurniawan himself.
In video footage (taken for a 2002 television pilot) during an auction, which Rudy regularly attended, blending with the arbiters of fine wine; he leaned to a friend, pointed to a listing on the catalogue, and whispered, “Dude, I just opened that bottle on Thursday, can I refill it and put the cork back?”