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True crime pairs well with fine wine in the astonishing story of Rudy Kurniawan, perhaps the most notorious—and unlikely—wine forger in history
Few gain entry to the privileged world of ultrafine wines, where billionaires flock to exclusive auction houses to vie for the scarce surviving bottles from truly legendary years. But Rudy Kurniawan, an unknown twentysomething from Indonesia, was blessed with two gifts that opened doors: a virtuoso palate for wine tasting, and access to a seemingly limitless (if mysterious) supply of the world’s most coveted wines.
After bursting onto the scene in 2002, Kurniawan quickly became the leading purveyor of rare wines to the American elite. But in April 2008, his lots of Domaine Ponsot Clos Saint-Denis red burgundy—dating as far back as 1945—were abruptly pulled from auction. The problem? The winemaker was certain that this particular burgundy was first produced only in 1982.
Journalist Peter Hellman was there, and he would closely investigate as a singular cast of characters—including a Kansas-born billionaire and self-proclaimed “hoarder,” a dignified Burgundian winemaker, a wine-loving young prosecutor, and a crusty FBI agent who prepared for the case by reading French Wine for Dummies—worked to unravel the biggest con in wine history. Whether driven by the love of wine or of justice, all were asking the same question: Was the mild-mannered Kurniawan himself a dupe? Or had one young man—with little experience and few connections—ensnared the world’s top winemakers, sellers, and drinkers in a web of deceit?
“An engrossing account of wine fraud and forgery . . . Hellman clearly knows his stuff.”—The Wall Street Journal
“Heady, intoxicating . . . shines a light on the esoteric and intriguing world of ultrarare, ultrafine wines.”—Foreword, starred review
“In Vino Duplicitas is a cautionary tale of how we can let the romance of wine get the better of us. Kurniawan preyed on rich collectors, but most vinophiliacs have experienced the seductive lure of a rare or expensive bottle of wine. None of us are immune.”—Washington Post
“Hellman, a veteran journalist who covered [Kurniawan’s] case, allows the story to unfold with spare prose. He presents, without overt judgment, the macho, competitive, one-upmanship world of the collectors, an atmosphere that perhaps contributed to their gullibility in the high-rolling economy of the early 2000s.”—The New York Times
“[A] compelling mix of wine devotion (journalist Hellman’s included) and true crime (complete with avenging furies, from a bloody-minded Koch brother to a passionate French vintner).”—Maclean's
“A deep dive into the culture that nurtured Kurniawan, and the forces that destroyed him.”—Wine Spectator
“Like Law & Order for oenophiles, In Vino Duplicitas is a true crime account set among the cognoscenti of the wine world.”—Imbibe
“Journalist Peter Hellman spent years following the strange saga of Rudy Kurniawan, who in 2013 was sentenced to 10 years in prison for selling untold millions of dollars in fake rare vintages. Hellman tells the phenomenal story of the mysterious fraudster in In Vino Duplicitas.”—Wine Enthusiast
“A captivating story . . . Hellman’s voice is that of the amused but compassionate observer. He saves his disdain for those who seemed to have colluded in the scam, the auctioneers and rich collectors so eager for economic gain and status that they willfully ignored the evidence in front of them. By definition, rare wines are in finite supply. It is perhaps this underlying matter of motivation that does most to deepen the satisfaction of this well-told story.”—Times Literary Supplement
“In Vino Duplicitas is a fast-paced and suspenseful real-life thriller brimming with rich, vivid detail.”—Apple’s iBooks Best Book of July
“[An] absorbing account of true crime in high society.”—Publishers Weekly
“Well written and carefully researched.”—The Journal of Wine Economics
“Peter Hellman led the way in reporting on Rudy Kurniawan’s monumental fraud, and he has written the book it deserves: tenaciously researched, propulsively told, and infused with earned wisdom about the wine world. I found it hard to put In Vino Duplicitas down and, like one of the authentically magical bottles the book describes, it will linger in your mind.”
—Benjamin Wallace, author of The Billionaire’s Vinegar
“A page-turning cautionary tale about the elite world of wine, and a gripping and disturbing read. You won’t be able to put it down.”
—Frances Dinkelspiel, author of Tangled Vines
“The best account of fraudster Rudy Kurniawan to date. Riveting, deftly-researched, entertaining, it’s a page-turner that reveals all sorts of new details about the largest wine fraud in history.”
—Mark Oldman, author of How to Drink Like a Billionaire
“An exciting page-turner”
—George Taber, author of Judgment of Paris
“Well-researched and enjoyable.”—World of Fine Wine
“Hellman is an excellent storyteller. He is also a meticulous journalist. In a story which has been covered so many times by so many different people. . . Hellman has managed to sift through the swirling nebulae of rumor, conjecture, evidence and facts and pull together a compelling and systematic account of how this mind-boggling fraud took place.”—JancisRobinson.com
