Episode description
We've dug into the archives to bring you one of our favourite scam stories: Rudy Kurniawan aka the guy who tricked rich idiots into spending MILLIONS of dollars on his homemade wine.
There are people in this world who spend literally hundreds of thousands of dollars on wine - sometimes on a single bottle. These wine 'experts' say they can taste the difference between a fancy bottle and a sack of goon, but... Rudy definitely proved they can't. He made a bunch of wine in his kitchen, slapped some snobby labels on the bottles and SOLD THEM TO RICH IDIOTS FOR MILLIONS OF DOLLARS. And not only did they buy the wine, they INSISTED they loved it, and that it was the 'best wine' they'd ever tasted. Gotta love rich idiots!
We give you Just The Gist, but if you want more, there's this:
Watch the 'Sour Grapes' documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPUYuwSRwB8
Watch 'The Greatest Wine Forger' documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4CByxYbyJ4
Read some articles:
Vanity Fair: https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2012/07/wine-fraud-rudy-kurniawan-vintage-burgundies
The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/global/2016/sep/11/the-great-wine-fraud-a-vintage-swindle
The New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/a-true-crime-documentary-about-the-con-that-shook-the-world-of-wine
Since our episode first aired in November 2020, Rudy was released from prison and deported back to Indonesia. Laurent Posont still hasn't published his tell-all book.
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