Hi everyone, new here. Not fairly new to wine but new to upper high class wine (coming from collecting Margaux etc) and looking for some advise. I’m offered to buy a DRC 1975 at a reasonable price. I have been searching the internet all over (incl this forum) to find info about counterfeits etc. The pics I have seems quite good. Only the necklabel is missing (but so do they on a lot of pics around the internet), the rest seems in order. At least to me. I have been in contact with DRC and they say they don’t see anything strange but of course cannot guarantee from a pic that its genuine. The only thing odd is the color of the glass but I also have read that genuine bottles can have different colors glass. Maybe someone here can say some smart things about it?
Upon looking at the last photo of the top/front of the bottle when expanded, I spotted some corrosion from under the capsule, under the “D” in Domaine.
It appears this bottle has leaked which is not a good sign and which makes me think it may have been exposed to heat which can cause leakage and damage the wine.
The leakage is directly above where the neck label would have been, which might be why it is missing as it may have been wine stained.
All of this is conjecture, but leakage raises potentially objectionable scenarios.
Caveat emptor!
Was the ‘75 vintage in Burgundy any good? Far be it from me to tell you how to spend your money, but apparently I am going to , but for what I assume this bottle costs, you can get a lot more looking elsewhere, both in terms of quality and quantity.
I personally wouldn’t be worried about leakage with a level like this. This is as likely to be down to cellar moisture than anything, and even if there had been a small leak that’s not necessarily a problem, unless it’s recent and actively leaking. I can’t say for sure if the bottle is genuine though. Might be worth getting a picture of the top of the capsule, as this is perhaps the most difficult part do the bottle to fake convincingly (apart from the wine).
I think it all just depends on the price and how much you care about that vintage, there are lots of bottles of RC for sale a lot of which are much more likely to be sound and authentic.
Sorry I sent this prior to seeing your last photos. It has been fully edited
I would not spend my money on this bottle.
You can see wrinkles in the side of the capsule indicating the cork has been pushed back into the bottle.
Look elsewhere.
When a cork is pushed up the capsule stretches. In the effort to push to cork back into the bottle to hide that flaw, the capsule is going to wrinkle when trying to compress the excess stretched metal as well. The wrinkles can be flattened and pushed down to the sides of the capsule, but not completely restored to original condition to a trained eye.
Although retired now, I spent over four decades buying and selling wine of this ilk and age.
Not a bottle I’d be inclined to spend money on even if guaranteed pristine.1975 is more likely to have been used to create a counterfeit than to be one, but if its provenance is sketchy enough that you don’t know for sure, then it’s also sketchy enough that it’s not likely to be pristine either. So an easy pass.
Given what this probably cost, may be reasonable to his hit inspected/authenticated/appraised.
Maureen Downy used to post here. I have no idea if she would inspect only a single bottle
I’ve also purchased from Richard before, and bottles purchased were impeccable. He clearly has a keen eye.
I had this wine (RC 75) about 20+ years ago. it was fragrant, quite complex, spicy but rather light with (too) noticable acidity, good, interesting – but nothing really special. Blind I might have said an Echezeaux from a light vintage, but I knew what I’ve tasted I and was definitely disapointed.
What I also noticed is that the Leroy label is very high on the shoulder. Other bottles the labels almost touch each other and here is a big space in between…
Besides that, the serialnumber on the Ebay label is the same as the one on the bottle. And thats not all, some stains and marks on the bottles label match the Ebay label aswell. So the Ebay seller is screwing customers with fake labels and the bottle seller is screwing people with an entire bottle. Good thing I putted some hours of research in this one
Congratulations, you have been promoted to Wine Detective First Class.
Glad your research paid off and saved you some bucks.
The Romanee Conti cache blinds a lot of folks and scammers know that all too well.
An interesting problem this. If I were to make a bet, I would say that the capsule is genuine (if it wasn’t, it would probably be in better condition…). So one option would be that this is an old bottle of Echezeaux that has been relabelled with a fake RC label (but then why choose 75 rather than, say 78…). But to me, a bottle of this age, combined with the condition of the capsule, would suggest a much lower level than the one in the bottle, which would be excellent for the age. I wouldn’t be surprised if the wrinkling of the capsule is a result of it being removed from an empty bottle and replaced on this one… with great care and precision. Perhaps then, the bottle is genuine, has been refilled, the top of the capsule reattached, and a RC label purchased from eBay applied…?
, but for what I assume this bottle costs, you can get a lot more looking elsewhere, both in terms of quality and quantity.
