The shadowy world of counterfeit wines

[@nicog6188]

Guys. I am now inspecting my 2019 Yéllowtail. I’ve determined it’s a fake

[@mkcirederf]

Damnit! I have to look through my franzia now too!

[@cwsiggy77]

lol - probably tastes better than the real Yellowtail.

[@marcelosantana9311]

It taste good.....is a fake. 😂

[@holeymattress8128]

"It brings me great satisfaction" to spend millions on lawsuits against those who fooled you and took advantage of your wealth and ego... the irony.

[@pangkaji]

it is a case of ego. you double down

[@dannywhite132]

This guy has spent more on fake wine than I will earn in my life..

[@marcelosantana9311]

It made me depressing.

[@menassies3224]

Baby don't sell yourself short therez still time

[@l.d.t.6327]

He spent more on lawsuits fighting the counterfeiters than he has on wine, probably!

[@patavinity1262]

I have no idea why he wouldn't have made sure *before* buying that it wasn't fake if he's going to drop hundreds of thousands on it.

[@ANDREWP122]

Let's face it, when you're worth a billion+, a few hundred thousand is a minuscule percentage of your net worth. You figure out after that it's fake, you have a good story. Interest he's making on his accounts will replenish him in no time.

[@apt62]

Patavinity it’s from a very reputable auction house in NY

[@annastigum5017]

He bought some of the bottles through Christie’s and Sotheby’s so it was kinda their fault too

[@Salmagundiii]

I would have been suspicious of the engraving. Doesn't look like engraving I've seen on genuinely old glass objects. The lines on those are thinner.

[@bobmarley2140]

more money than sense

[@lesliekerluke8555]

Probably this is the closest this billionaire has gotten to being a job creator - he has found employment for counterfeiters and authenticators in this “sad” case of fraud. It is really hard to feel sorry for him.

[@pangkaji]

don't forget the lawyers

[@trallicus3758]

Aww, poor guy. After this wine scam, Mr. Koch is now only worth several billions of dollars.

[@JBALLER02]

Oliver Revilo what? Are you an idiot?

[@tachiebillano6244]

I once got to taste a beautiful Chardonnay at a Michelin-starred restaurant; it felt like butter, saffron, and sunshine in my mouth, not kidding. So I can understand how a person can form a life-long fascination with wine. But good Lord... unless you’re running a hotel, a restaurant, an heritage preservation organization (dedicated to archiving the world’s best wines, for instance), or a castle with an army of courtiers to impress, a PERSONAL cellar this size and with contents this expensive is... excessive, yes? LOL. You can’t take all of that with you to your death, anyway. (And it opens you up to swindlers.) Reserve only the most precious for special days, and then pare it all down by drinking the rest - hopefully, with your loved ones and friends as you reflect and ponder on the meaning of life in this universe. The world makes wonderful wines each year, and there’s more where that came from. Also, if you’re rich and consume wine regularly (without going overboard), you support an industry that employs thousands of people around the globe.

[@danielsmith4243]

omg I feel so bad for this billionaire

[@u.v.s.5583]

Same here. We should donate money for those who put their necks into the noose to save all of us! So that me and you can buy Thomas Jefferson's wines safely in the future!

[@quonston]

It couldn’t happen to a less nice (or stupid) person!

[@chrischambless]

What a waste of money! This dude has blown millions on lawsuits that have brought him "great satisfaction." I guess funding a scholarship would not have been as satisfying.

[@caposantana8753]

No it probably wouldn't have been as satisfying. Whyre you people so bent on handouts? Dude is a BILLIONAIRE, the man can do as he pleases with his millions

[@u.v.s.5583]

He never nailed Rodenstock. Never ever. Close but no cigar.

[@phillipsmillie7327]

Top 1% rather spend 25million on a grudge rather than donate to charity.....Shocking behaviour

[@nicomeier8098]

O dear, multi billionaires being cheated for their equivalent of pocket cash, how unfortunate.

[@SurenAghabekyan]

as soon as I saw this bottle my first question was, "How did they engrave the letters on the bottle in those times?"

[@u.v.s.5583]

I am even not absolutely sure that they have an absolute proof of that. They checked the 18th century engraving equipment and discovered that it was nearly impossible to engrave letters on a bottle like that. What does that really prove? Could they build the Egyptian pyramids with technology of those days? No? Does it follow that that was impossible?

[@MrAlaister]

suren! i didnt know u enjoy wine and chess

[@SurenAghabekyan]

@@MrAlaister now you know dear Alberto ;)

[@meejmuas8686]

How do you buy a 4.5 million dollar product without verifying its authenticity? Guy walked into it

[@BUFFISM]

Entertained2036 4.5 million divided on all the bottles on the table

[@johnsradios484]

Entertained2036 It happens

[@graycloud057]

Rudy was a curse and a blessing at the same time.

[@debgib007]

I'm rooting for Rudy.

[@Blauqkween]

$35 million to feed his ego is gluttony at its finest.

[@burleymullins8776]

Victimless crime.

[@gregjohnson720]

I recommend watching the film called Sour Grapes. It might be on Netflix.

[@Watchlover371]

Greg Johnson love that film and yes it’s on Netflix

[@alexm566]

it's on KZbin now

[@mrgoblueguy]

He deserves what he got. How could it not be inspected before he purchased it?

[@HieronymousLex]

You can’t inspect every single bottle before you even buy it, that’s not how it works. You’re just mad that he has more money than you clearly

[@Theonlymayz]

The koch brothers talking about fraudsters ? CLASSIC

[@vgamboa3448]

Hahahahaha this guy actually thought those wines were from Thomas Jefferson. He must have been drinking.

[@CFG39]

40 years for faking wine and tricking billionaires, meanwhile murderers get off with a few months or time served sometimes.

[@gavinhanson9213]

Fields Carlisle and pedos & rapists get off with no time at all. The justice system is a joke.

[@basedsigmaspeaks]

Hey I have a bridge to sell this guy and some magic beans

[@marcelosantana9311]

I almost felt bad for him paying 400k for fake wine until he put 25 millions to go after the guy who sold him the wine. Jesus, that is too much money for 1 person to have available to pay lawyers.

[@pangkaji]

it is a case of ego

[@Semper29ify]

When the expert cheaters get a taste of their own medicine. Boo Hoo!

[@Retire-py2yk]

is it bad that i don't feel sorry for them ?

[@TsLeng]

Rudy is a champ. No question.

[@mllex2018]

I’m proud of my country fellow man 😂

[@Luka-nl9hv]

Hope he realizes soon that he won't be able to drink half of he's collection!!

[@23x31]

I somehow bought a counterfeit bottle of Thunderbird.

[@Rolloaller]

to portray that amount of wealth without any shame is mind bending to me.

[@menassies3224]

Charkes koch would never

[@RawRapper]

All that wine if he doesn’t drink it it’s a waste

[@gregbrightwell662]

He is trying.

[@pierotamburrini9712]

Fake wines in a fake solid bricks cellar.

[@billysaz1]

Damn! And he could have bought a politician with that $$$. Oh well, he'll have to tap his 42 billion for that cause.

[@ss2727ful]

wrong Koch

[@geraldmahoney4856]

I once spent $500,000 for a map to a silver mine. That turned out to be fake.

[@user-zx1ir7jt4c]

I feel no sympathy... If you get ripped off on something like this, it's your own fault! I'm a wine collector as well but nowhere near as wealthy as this Koch bro. It's very important to know that you are buying from a reputable dealer or auction house, and at the end of the day you must be master of this trade, and know what to LOOK for when buying such high dollar bottles!

[@mouija1450]

I'm stunned at the fact that he's so casual about basically burning $4.5m. It's how I would talk about buying a $1 scratch ticket that I lost. Oh well. I'd lose my mind if I bought a bottle of wine for $100 to treat my wife and found out it was a swindle. Maybe that's why I never got into gambling. $100 is the majority of my weekly grocery bill if I exclusively buy items on sale or with coupons. China has zero respect for intellectual property, individuality or uniqueness.

[@l.d.t.6327]

He burnt 25 mil on lawyers…!

[@rjs1jd]

The antique wines are a fascinating part of wine industry!

[@dmac5808]

Vechain baby. This need to be on the block chain.

[@vangstr]

Will I be able to drink all of my collection before I die? Collection to the extreme is an addiction.

[@zyzzyvacation]

Was his experience with fake wines the inspiration for TV series "Sneaky Pete" . . . 🤔

[@SerialSniper14]

Lol at all these haters here. If you found out your mechanics were ripping you off you would be pissed to. Same concept, larger scale. Save your crocodile tears.

[@2011blueman]

I'm not sure you understand what the term "crocodile tears" means. The "haters" are expressing their schadenfreude. It's not crocodile tears.

[@SerialSniper14]

+Leggo My Ego crocodile tears (noun): expressions of sorrow that are insincere I think "boo hoo poor billionaire" qualify as insincere expressions of sorrow.

[@ryanthompsonthompson820]

SerialSniper15 ☆☆☆☆

[@gypsieladie]

@@SerialSniper14 crocodile tears are meant to convince. The people saying "boo hoo, poor billionaire." are being sarcastic. Sorry so late but hope that helps.

[@l.d.t.6327]

You can’t compare mechanics to wine. With mechanics you either have quality or not. With wine, and with this buyer, you have zero knowledge or appreciation so zero loss if he buys something fake. He only appreciates “expensive” as a taste.

[@Eitner100]

Only 40 years of prison? How about 10 x life with extremely hard labor? Plus Christies and or Sotheby banned forever from doing the extremely amateur bad job they do?

[@kyrylsholominskyy2864]

Koch is the type of guy you can sell some oregano too and pass it off as weed

[@maxmcmahan717]

Lmao

[@imantsp1963]

Monet, Picasso, Miro pictures also a fake? :-)

[@TNUni167]

He couldn't even buy a good wine corker. Instead he did it with a rusty corker on its last leg and probably contaminated.

[@matthewdesilva6010]

i know how he feels someone once drank my buckfast at a party

[@jimyost2585]

"Shadowy World" eh? Please spare me the drama (yawn). If you want to make sure you're drinking wine that doesn't contain herbicide or pesticide residues, or sulfites or sorbates, make it yourself from fruit you pick in fields, woods, and ditches, and off of neighbors trees and bushes that haven't been sprayed with any chemicals. I read an article recently that said that 95% of California wine was tested to have herbicide and pesticide residues. Even 'organic' wines have those residues if they're made from grapes grown in California. You can buy some really pure wines that are made in Europe (France, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Spain, et al) but they're pricey. Cognac and Brandy made by distilling wine don't contain chemical residues even if they're made from California wines.

[@nicensleazy1892]

this shows, it pays to do your research before you buy. Loads of money with no idea - fingers will be burnt ! Very sad

[@annanirathsi1111]

So lawyers getting 25 million to sue someone who made 400,000 dollars and 60 minutes is trying to portray the wine forgers as the criminals??? The only true crime here is a country that would allow such frivolous lawsuits to begin with.

[@stephanclemens2348]

The guy would make a decent King Haggard if the last Unicorn was about wine: "There. There they are! There they are!! They're mine! They belong to me! My Underlings gathered them for me one by one, and I made them bring each one into the cellar! Now they live there..They fill me with joy. The first I felt it I thought I was going to die. I said to the my men that I must have them, all of them, all there are. For nothing makes me happy but their shining and their stickers. So the they caught them. Each time I see the bottles, my bottles, it is like that morning in the woods and I am truly young, in spite of myself."

[@jackthelid]

40 Years??!!!!

[@Eitner100]

Only 40 years, yes.

[@new_contents_all_day]

any give aways ??

[@notorio526]

I can't believe they drank the fake wine! Might not be safe.

[@duncanmacpherson2013]

There are people who collect wine as there are those who collect coins,stamps or porclain,but wine is for drinking and enjoying. Is a bottle of 18th century wine still drinkable? I have never paid more than £35 because I drink every bottle I buy. I could buy more expensive bottles but then how would I feel if I decided I did not like it?

[@Hillcapper1]

Amazing the haters on here, because the guy is a billionaire? If the guy was a millionaire would you feel different? How about if he was an average Joe and got ripped off on a $500 bottle of wine because that was his hobby? Who cares if someone is a billionaire or millionaire? Doesn’t change my life either way. By the way, he understands caveat emptor, buyer beware. He admitted that was his responsibility.

[@u.v.s.5583]

I love the fact that he actually never nailed Rodenstock in a court. Never.

[@davanmani556]

What's Hardy Rodenstock's real name and why isn't he prosecuted? Poor Indonesian guy.

[@u.v.s.5583]

His real name is Meinhard Görke. He died in 2018. He was sort of prosecuted by a German guy named Frericks, and eventually after much fuss they settled their matters outside the courtroom. The other attempt to really sue him was made by Koch. Unsuccessfully. Koch danced for years within the American court system which had no jurisdiction over the matter and refused to sue in Europe as he couldn't make a convincing case there (mainly because Rodenstock could prove that Koch had known the doubts of authenticity for more than 10 years and had by a looooong period missed the window of opportunity to sue Rodenstock). Agree about Rudy.

[@lewisdoherty7621]

While this is mostly driven by snob appeal, if there was really a fantastic taste to certain wines which have to be experienced, then chemists should be able to take samples, determine the types and ratios of the chemicals contained in them and reproduce them. For the amount of money these people are expending on these wines, it could be done and there would be an endless supply of copies of the really good stuff. Market them as copies and see if the experts can tell the difference in blind taste tests. It might be surprising what they find. That bottle everyone liked, we found it had arsenic contamination.

[@cassyfromgarry]

Great to be so rich that what upsets you in life is that some of your wine collection might be fake.Thats what happens sometimes.

[@dorothygale5896]

Make it yourself from wine juice concentrate. E.C. Kraus and Midwest Supplies are excellent sites

[@redstepable]

That's sad, If you spend more that a couple hundred dollars on a bottle of wine then your a fool

[@wellnetorganic5907]

Spend your money on the wine you can drink with your friends and family. Support living artists, the dead don't need money. Do good with your resources, once you are gone they will stay behind, only the deeds you have done will be remembered.

[@sedatedturtle]

Only the 6 is squished in the 1961 bottle by reinserting the cork??? Is she a fake???

[@ShaneyElderberry]

When you have that kind of money, it shouldn't be difficult to purchase aged wine directly from the French winery cellars. Buy a few cases of the real thing, for less than the auction houses!

[@saxplayer57]

Why not buy a wineyard?

[@MrLeary73]

Oh no a billionaire got scammed everybody open your wallets we must repay this man for tragedy

[@Itsoktobenice]

More is never enough for some

[@felixuchies4688]

Good, that's what happens when you place the value not on quality n taste but on names and clout

[@u.v.s.5583]

I have a rare bottle of 2017 merlot that once belonged to Julius Caesar!

[@isabellajames6623]

god i cant wait to eat the rich... imma have a plate of this guy paired with a 2017 charles shaw

[@isabellajames6623]

ok this is one of the funniest things i've ever said and i was kinda hoping for more appreciation

[@halohaalo2583]

@@isabellajames6623 ❤

[@michaelstewart4988]

Its hard to feel bad for Koch...he's obviously got more money than sense.

[@annb5610]

He could have bought a lot tiny houses

[@nicensleazy1892]

Money doesn't give you knowledge

[@skintendowii8426]

THAT MARCUS BUST IS SIIICKKK

[@mattwebster2349]

This guys a billionaire, I feel nothing for the fact that he bought wines worth millions without observing due diligence “As jy dom is, moet jy maar kak!”

[@VincePlaysChess]

Steal from the rich? 40 years in prison.

[@mavericky1543]

I really feel bad for the billionaire, i mean what is this world coming to? He spent millions of dollars of wines? How is he going to live?

[@felixuchies4688]

What makes these wines better? Can these people tell the difference? I'm talking taste wise

[@lenamarvin4604]

just buy only wines protected with the Acatena system and get peace of mind. Even the old prooftag system is better than nothing!

[@Leo-fluffy]

Bit excessive on the wine

[@wahyuindrasto]

Bill Koch is a good humored _dumb_ guy, actually. He just has a damn lot of money.

[@VincentAnzalone]

Rich people problems

[@fredericbeigbeder9119]

one reason I never would spend more than 100 Dollars on a bottle of whine, you surely make a clown out of yourself, all credit to Rudy, who fooled the rich and dumb

[@mcnasty4207]

Wow, that chick has had work done. I barely recognized her.

[@carib6971]

Koch could have done so much good with this money...instead he wasted it on his vanity.

[@hejustleft]

Hard to feel sorry for wine snobs.

[@AndrewJacobsonsh1t]

Rich people deserve to get ripped off to be fair. Just buy Four Loko

[@tommytwotoes3880]

Tamper proof until it's tampered with. Why do I not fell sorry for Kock.

[@cf5768]

How dare you fool the ultra rich into drinking different aged grape juice, now you will rot in jail for 40 years

[@sakudoo]

9:06 ... and started drinking!

[@pangkaji]

A case of too much money. Then again, it is his money. he should be able to spend however nhe wants to spend it.

[@Deontjie]

Don't feel sorry for him.

[@PC_Powerlifting]

I just found out this from Internet Historian

[@thefloridamanofytcomments5264]

Lottery tickets are society’s tax to the poor, I guess this is the equivalent for the rich.

[@steelwarrior105]

His brothers still buy a shitload at barollo

[@dipro001]

“I know... "

[@raymatthews7624]

what if I loved it?

[@ramohino]

LOL Thats what he gets! REALLY spending that much on old a@$ wine.

[@David-y8m8z]

it's all wine to me

[@swillmerchant9886]

these fraudsters are "conscientious". they will never con me. cos i can offer no other than humble table wine.

[@ritamariekelley4077]

Wondering about that Monet...He's buying bragging rights...pathetic.

[@jacobijones]

Lmaoo booo hoo someone ripped off a billionaire for being a idiot with his money and spending millions and wine instead of something like helping homeless, feeding the poor, opening a school. Frankly I’m proud of this Asian dude! Just shows how much of a waste of money it is to spend THOUSANDS on one bottle of wine.