Expensive wines not always 'rare'

  Wine can become expensive for two reasons -- it's of excellent quality or is very hard to find.

  If you are lucky enough to have a wine that has both characteristics, you probably have a real gem on your hands.

  In Benjamin Wallace's recently released book, "The Billionaire's Vinegar: The Mystery of the World's Most Expensive Bottle of Wine," we learn about the journey of one bottle of rare wine that may be fraudulent.

  Wallace, a dedicated wine journalist, tracked down the story behind a bottle of wine, a 1787 Ch teau Lafite, from a cache of French wine allegedly once owned by Thomas Jefferson.

  Christie's put the bottle up for auction by Michael Broadbent, Britain's dean of wine auctioneers, in 1985. After lots of publicity, billionaire Malcolm Forbes paid $156,000 for the rare bottle -- a record at that time.

  But in Wallace's book, he takes a closer look at the bottle and questions about its authenticity arise.

  The bottle was not actually discovered by Broadbent in England, like many of Christie's high-priced wines, but was discovered in Paris by Hardy Rodenstock, a former German rock-music promoter.

  He claimed the bottle was one of an entire collection hidden for almost 200 years in a sealed cellar and was discovered during the demolition of an 18th-century Paris house.

  Rodenstock bought the entire batch for the equivalent of $2,227. He said the secret cellar had provided perfect storage.

  Wallace's book tells about how Broadbent's auction catalog cited considerable
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circumstantial evidence supporting Jefferson's original ownership, but no actual proof.

  That sale also began a long string of auctions in which Christie's and Rodenstock, who apparently had an endless stream of "rare wines," made large profits.

  It was perhaps all a big swindle, as Wallace exposes Rodenstock as an alleged fraud who doctored old bottles filled with old but inauthentic wine. Look for the book to soon become a movie.

  Commercial wine auctions in the U.S. are still a regular occurrence. But buyer beware.

  At a recent New York City commercial wine auction, a number of rare Domaine Ponsot red burgundies were be auctioned and were expected to go for an estimated $600,000.

  The bottles had to be withdrawn, however, after Domaine Ponsot's current owner proved his family never made the wines. The labels on the bottles did not contain a "code" the Domaine had placed on the labels to prevent such an occurrence.

  There are safe ways to find rare bottles of wine. The Rare Wine Co.  offers hundreds of authenticated rare wines, including a 1978 Barolo Monfortino for $1,450.

  Also, wineries are using technological methods to combat counterfeits such as codes on labels or microchips in corks.

  We haven't had to "code" our wines at Zin Valle yet. And we know that a less expensive wine can still be enjoyable. Rarity and "pedigree" aren't necessarily what makes a wine worthwhile.

  Vic Poulos, owner Zin Valle Vineyards, is a regular contributor to the El Paso Times.