Has anybody any experience with or knowledge of the wine broker ...

Montesquieu, The Spirit of Wine.

They seem to belong to a larger brokerage called Jakob Gerhardt USA which seems to be somehow related to the Schenk Group USA.

They appear to be QUITE controversial. Never tried them myself, but: http://www.bottlecount.com/harvey/comme ... ewsid=1164

Here's a tread that reveals all: http://wines.com/ubb/Forum8/HTML/000285.html

Thanks, guys, forewarned is forearmed!

Veni, vidi, effugi ...

I took a peek in their San Francisco offices. It's your basic telemarketing organization. They have a nifty DVD with an introduction to the organization, interesting pitch, pretty lady.