Bloomberg article on RK/JK

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-12-08/feds-sell-vino-from-convicted-fraudster-veritas-not-guaranteed

I share the concern raised in the article that this wine will re-enter the market, and people will be less than honest about the provenance.

Really kidding/just kidding? Thanks Ron

Just so many wows reading that.

Here’s an idea: let’s flood the market with counterfeits for the foreseeable future.

WA Merlot gets a nice plug!

I want to know more about this teaser:

“It included scrambling for a new wine authenticator after oenophiles howled that its ace lacked the expertise to spot a sham by the grand con man of Grand Cru”

Any idea who the “authenticator” and the “ace” are?

Everything else aside - why in the world would you ship all that wine from California to Texas, of all places, to be auctioned off.

Cuz its the guberment !

Cuz in TX the marshals have a cellar to keep it cold. Did you get a look at the original announcement of the auction? They mention that the wines were kept in a cool cellar. I figure it’s where they hang their road kill, but who knows.

I like the idea of Koch though - they could etch the bottles on the neck or something to indicate that they’re Rudy bottles. Some of them, perhaps many of them, may well be real but people still need to know. And if they’re authenticating by looking at the labels and bottles, why couldn’t he have used an old bottle, old cork, and old capsule to hold new wine, or more likely, wine from a similar, but less costly vintage?

What Greg said. Then I’d be curious to see if anyone bids more than a couple hundred bucks for a bottle if it is permanently marked.

“Robert Kennedy/John Kennedy”??

That was my take on the title too…

“On Thursday, federal marshals will use a front loader to smash 548 bottles – more than a hundred gallons of wine – they believe have been faked and, of course, recycle the glass.”

Aren’t these folks smart enough to have seen the opportunity to auction off a tasting? “What’s in the Bottle of the most famous of fakes? Pop corks and find out for $200 a head. Heavy Hors d’oeuvres.”