Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Bogus...




Laurent Ponsot, the proprietor of Domaine Ponsot, took a seat at one of the restaurant’s tables. He had traveled to New York to prevent the sale of all 97 Ponsot bottles on offer that night because he believed most of them were counterfeits.

The consignment included one bottle of 1929 Ponsot Clos de la Roche, a grand cru (Burgundy’s highest designation) that the domaine did not produce under its own label until 1934. There were also 38 bottles of another Ponsot grand cru, Clos Saint-Denis, from the years 1945 through 1971. But the winery had not started making Clos Saint-Denis until the 1980s. Something was very wrong.

But just before the moment arrived, it was announced to the audience that all of the Ponsot bottles had been withdrawn. 

Kurniawan [The seller] was arrested by F.B.I.  and charged with multiple counts of wire and mail fraud, notably in connection with the attempted sale of the bogus Ponsots.

When agents entered Kurniawan’s house, they discovered a counterfeiting factory, with scores of bottles being converted to knockoffs and thousands of fake labels for the most prestigious wines from Burgundy and Bordeaux. It appears now that Kurniawan may have sold millions of dollars’ worth of counterfeit wines and scammed some of the world’s biggest collectors. He was convicted, sentenced to 10 years in jail. To be deported after as he was illegal in USA.
Just a thought. 

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