The story of Rudy’s rise and fall…Sour Grapes screening at 67 Pall Mall with Jerry Rothwell, Director
Rudy Kurniawan (aka Zhen Wang Huang…) conned wine collectors out of around $24 million worth of fake wine before being convicted in 2013.
This generous, charismatic and highly knowledgeable man wrapped collectors, friends and wine professionals around his little finger. One vignette being the occasion of Rudy’s mother’s 60th birthday which saw Jackie Chan standing on a chair clutching a jeroboam of Château Pétrus shouting ‘Rudy! You are the best!’. He was not alone in offering praise to someone who, at the outset, was a brilliant (con)man.
Sour Grapes uncorks the world’s largest case of wine fraud. Cracks started to show in what Rudy thought to be a bulletproof scheme as Bill Koch, a top US collector and Laurent Ponsot, a Burgundian wine producer, begin to discover a few suspicious bottles. On one occasion, Koch discovered that the label on one bottle supposedly from 1857 had been affixed with Elmer’s Glue. Elmer’s Glue was not produced until 1947.
We are very excited to welcome Jerry Rothwell, Sour Grapes’ Director to the Club who will be hosting a discussion following the screening. I hope to see you there as we watch this fascinating tale unravel…