Steinberger on wine fraud

http://www.slate.com/id/2256775

Good read. Thanks for sharing that Dale. Depressing to see even more names get tied into this fraud, though I am slightly surprised to see Rudy K. not even mentioned anywhere in that piece.

For more background:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/09/03/070903fa_fact_keefe

The old adage that says, "if it's too good to be true, it probably is" would seem to apply here.

I think Parker is at worst an innocent patsy in this whole affair--taken in as the others were by the possible fraud surrounding the 1921 Petrus. I'm sure he had no reason, given his information at the time, to doubt the wine's provenance.

-Paul W.

Maybe I am just being a little too sensitive but it seemed that the author has some issue with those of us who enjoy wine and go to tastings or enjoy wine at lunch. If not its hard to explain his choice of descriptors.

Bacchanal………………wine-soaked lunches in New York…………….but his were even more decadent—they were often multiday affairs that featured wines spanning several centuries……………a weekend-long wine orgy

Brian,
I didn't take it that way- I probably go to more tastings than most people here, and didn't feel the least insulted. I think Steinberger's point was twofold:
that Parker has often said that his official notes come from tastings in controlled settings, and that notes from dinners are only included in Hedonist Gazette postings. Yet some wines from these lunches and weekend were included.
That Rodenstock and the Royal boys used these lunches and weekends to ingratiate themselves with both collectors and critics.

Paul,
there is certainly a distinct possibility that the bottle Parker was served was authentic (you get one legitimate bottle of an expensive wine, then manufacture 100+ magnums once it gets a great score). I think Steinberger is quite clear that Parker had no connection to the fraud itself, except being used by others. I do think the article is pretty clear that Parker didn't keep the distance from the trade he so vocally claimed to. As my friend Paul J. noted on another forum, for someone who claims to remember every wine he ever tasted, he certainly seems to have trouble remembering other things!

... I probably go to more tastings than most people here...

Better watch it, Dale : don't want to have your notes subpoenaed

I seem to remember that Rodenstock came out of nowhere when WS started praising his extravaganzas in their magazine. Interesting article. Wonder what juice was in those counterfeit bottles?

I seem to remember that Rodenstock came out of nowhere when WS started praising his extravaganzas in their magazine. Interesting article. Wonder what juice was in those counterfeit bottles?

Rodenstock was a fixture on the German (and later European) wine landscape from the early 80s. When he "found" the Jefferson bottles in mid80s, he was already well known. His extravanganzas got some coverage in the German press, and then Broadbent anf others started attending.
http://tinyurl.com/255gh43

As far as I know, other than being mentioned as finder of Th. J bottles, he wasn't covered in US press until the 98 Yquem tasting (which probably was heavy in real bottles, as the owner of the chateau was there!).

If I was faking 21 Petrus, I'd probably use a good midlevel Pomerol that was 20-30 years old from a decent vintage, and count on the label magic to do the rest. Or maybe mix a bottle of old off-vintage Petrus with some low level 2003 Pomerol to make a magnum.

This settles it. I had been thinking about getting some of the 1921 Petrus, but now I'm not going to.

I didn't take it that way- I probably go to more tastings than most people here, and didn't feel the least insulted.

Maybe not insulted but I definetly felt that the author was trying to set a tone with his word choice. The words/phrases I copied seem to me to be an attempt to paint those events as something the average person would find offensive. By dismissing the events as lavish, one diminishes the image of the participants somewhat and since I believe all of the events in question are supposedly held/participated by the "bad guys" of the article it makes sense.

I agree with the rest of what you wrote.

In reading the New Yorker article I was struck by the concept of paying thousands or tens of thousands for bottles from bad years that you never intended to drink simply so that you could have a complete vertical collection. I know people collect things but that strikes me as pretty odd. Maybe I just don't know how to act rich. I have never bought a bottle I didn't intend to drink someday.

Glenn

This settles it. I had been thinking about getting some of the 1921 Petrus, but now I'm not going to.

That's right, stick to the 47 Cheval Blanc!

Maybe I just don't know how to act rich.

Acting rich I can do. Being rich not so much.

Maybe I am just being a little too sensitive but it seemed that the author has some issue with those of us who enjoy wine and go to tastings or enjoy wine at lunch. If not its hard to explain his choice of descriptors.

Bacchanal………………wine-soaked lunches in New York…………….but his were even more decadent—they were often multiday affairs that featured wines spanning several centuries……………a weekend-long wine orgy

I'm with Dale on this . . . and Steinberger's previous articles hardly indicate someone who has issues with enjoying wine:

http://www.slate.com/id/2155249
http://www.slate.com/id/2158319/

Maybe I am just being a little too sensitive but it seemed that the author has some issue with those of us who enjoy wine and go to tastings or enjoy wine at lunch. If not its hard to explain his choice of descriptors.

Bacchanal………………wine-soaked lunches in New York…………….but his were even more decadent—they were often multiday affairs that featured wines spanning several centuries……………a weekend-long wine orgy

Interesting discussion on this subject on the winepages forum - with a number of people arguing that the average Joe would look at even a modest wine tasting (say 8 people sharing 8 decent bottles) as something wildly extravagant / OTT.

I'm sure everyone here has a friend/acquaintance who's looked at you with incredulity that you've spent more than $30 on a SINGLE bottle of wine

... and I suspect a few here who see the words "weekend-long wine orgy" and are attentively focused on the "weekend-long wine" bit and less on the "orgy"

regards

Ian