Wine & War, France’s Fight to Protect its Greatest Treasure

Nazi soldier in Burgundy Vineyard

There was a time in my life when I thought I hated history. My irritation with the subject developed in high school. History classes were taught by athletic coaches, most of whom didn’t seem particularly interested in the subject matter and I found our textbooks to be completely devoid of…

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April Potpourri: Sisters, States, Swindles, Satire, and More

April in Paris 1999

There are so many cool and interesting things happening in the world! Each month I look forward to sharing the most fun and informative news items that I’ve come across. Here are my picks for April 2021. In many cases, I provide a link that you can follow to the…

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Con-Man Kurniawan Exits Prison then Vanishes From the Public Eye

Wine glass, screw, and corks

In June of 2019, I wrote about Rudy Kurniawan, Extraordinary Forger of Fine Wine. Kurniawan’s story is told in the documentary film, Sour Grapes, and in an award-winning book, In Vino Duplicitas. In short, he was a young and charismatic wine dealer who scammed wealthy wine collectors out of millions…

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Recent News from the World of Wine Forgery

Old wine bottles

Last summer I wrote a post about Rudy Kurniawan, perhaps the world’s greatest wine forger. His story is told in both a Netflix documentary, Sour Grapes, and an award-winning book, In Vino Duplicitas. Kurniawan, a young and charismatic wine dealer who scammed wealthy wine collectors out of millions, makes a…

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Rudy Kurniawan, Extraordinary Forger of Fine Wine

The gifted Rudy Kurniawan

I first heard about wine investing back in the 1990s when some friends invited me and my husband, Andy, to a wine tasting at their home. That night I learned that similar to fine art, there exists a parallel world of fine wine collectors, insurance agencies, investment brokers, and auction…

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