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In Vino Duplicitas
In Vino Duplicitas: The Rise and Fall of a Wine Forger Extraordinaire | Peter Hellman
15 posts | 8 read | 11 to read
True crime pairs well with fine wine in this astonishing story of a con man who rides his gift for tasting wine to the highest reaches of society--and then comes crashing down In Vino Duplicitas marks a new, notorious legend in wine: the story of Rudy Kurniawan, a 20-something Indonesian immigrant who bursts onto the rarified scene of ultrafine wines in 2002. Blessed with the gift of a discerning palate and a knack for tracking down impossibly hard-to-find bottles, he transforms himself from a virtual unknown, living illegally in the US, into one of the most sought-after and respected members of wine's high society. For the next six years, he reigns as a purveyor of the last century's most storied vintages, all from a seemingly limitless supply. The wealthiest collectors spend tens of millions of dollars on wines from his cellar, considered at the time perhaps the greatest on earth. But in April 2008, crates of Domaine Ponsot red burgundy from Rudy's cellars--dating back as far as 1945--are abruptly pulled from an auction. The problem: The winemaker is certain that particular wine was first produced in 1982. Journalist Peter Hellman was there, and he would closely investigate as, over several years, Rudy's world comes spectacularly crashing down.
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review
TheHeartlandBookFairy
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Mehso-so

In Vino Duplicitas.

In Vino Veritas means "in wine there is truth". So, In Vino Duplicitas would loosely translate into "in wine, there is duplicity".

This is an accounting of the rise and fall of the wine forger Rudy Kurniawan. A man who was once called a wine savant, & who ended up serving time for his crimes.

While this is a fascinating accounting, the book itself lacks somewhat in that department. A bit herky(cont in comments)..

TheHeartlandBookFairy herky jerky, told out of order, and sometimes repeating information already covered.

While Rudy goes from fabulous to fake, to "Frankenstein Wines",

from marvelous to monstrous, his actions are those of a crafty and creative criminal.

As for the book, it went from fascinating and factual to far to long. Although its not a long book by length, it was indeed far too long to read the author's wandering and repetitive narrative.

I expected a "fine wine" of a book and feel like I got a bottle that was slightly "corked".

1y
Ruthiella Bummer it didn‘t live up to its promise. 1y
TheHeartlandBookFairy @Ruthiella That's the way it goes, it's all good😁 1y
30 likes3 comments
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LeslieO
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I was watching Sour Grapes on Netflix when I remembered that I had a book on the topic on my shelf! #BoundTogetherJune #BeverageOnTheCover #myfavoritebeverage

OriginalCyn620 👍🏻📚🍷 4y
34 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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kammartinez
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Mehso-so

Full review here: https://wp.me/p21txV-Fn

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ of 5 ⭐️

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BookNAround
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A book I‘m starting tonight so I can put it in my dad‘s stocking. Hope it‘s a fairly quick and interesting read!

TheHeartlandBookFairy Ooohhh, I love books about wine and books about books! let me know what you think about this one, I may have to add it to my TBR stack 😁 5y
40 likes1 comment
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CoffeeNBooks
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#GratefulReads This was a really interesting #nonfiction book about Rudy Kurniawan and his forgery of rare and vintage wines.
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @OriginalCyn620

OriginalCyn620 🙌🏼📚❤️ 5y
69 likes1 comment
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WanderingBookaneer
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Cinfhen Lots of deals today 💕 5y
43 likes1 comment
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CoffeeNBooks
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Pickpick

I just finished this morning's #coffeeandabook. This was a really interesting look into the world of rare wine, and Rudy Kurniawan, who was able to fool expert wine collectors with his counterfeit wines. #BookRiotReadHarderChallenge2019: book of non-violent true crime

StaceyKondla I ❤️ that mug! 6y
CoffeeNBooks @StaceyKondla I love The Goonies!! I have a couple of The Goonies shirts, too! 😁 6y
TheLibrarian What a great mug!! 6y
See All 9 Comments
wanderinglynn That mug! 👍🏻👍🏻 I love The Goonies! 6y
SphinxFeathers Wow! I didn‘t know counterfeiting wines was a real thing! 6y
mreads ❤ GOONIES 6y
CoffeeNBooks @SphinxFeathers I didn't either until I read this! It was a really interesting book. 6y
GripLitGrl Great mug😍 6y
JoScho Love that mug 🖤 6y
110 likes9 comments
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CoffeeNBooks
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My #FridayNightBookClub read. I'm learning so much about wine collectors, wine auctions, and rare old wines. @JoScho @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

JoScho 😊🖤 6y
95 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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CoffeeNBooks
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Looking forward to starting this one, the true story of a wine forger. 📚🍷📚

118 likes1 stack add
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EmG
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Perfect happy hour read. I know next to nothing about fine wine collecting but this book is a fascinating and accessible read. PeterHellman.com

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EmG
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Know nothing about wine but this is so accessible. Great story. Fast read. Racing thru it. PeterHellman.com

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kbuggle
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Mehso-so

An interesting recap of an amazing vintage wine con artist. How he got away with so much deception is remarkable. I listened to the audio of this one, and wish I had read the hard copy instead. Narrator was great, just a lot of information. There‘s a documentary that relates as well, called ‘Sour Grapes‘, but that fell a bit short for me, as well.

11 likes1 stack add
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theshrinkette
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I finally went out yesterday and it was a good time.

moranadatter Glad to hear you‘re feeling better! 7y
mrozzz 👌🏻👏🏻☺️ 7y
49 likes2 comments
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Librarybelle
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My #wrapup for June. Above are the books I finished in June. Some were really good; others so-so. And, I'm still in the middle of a lot! #SplashIntoSummerReads

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Librarybelle
Mehso-so

#netgalley This book had a lot of promise - chronicling the path of a wine forget. There were parts I sped through, eagerly awaiting the next bit of information. But, there were other parts that were very slow. The writing style is dry and at times very journalistic (not a fault, but it took me some time to get into it). Overall, an okay read. I did learn about some rare wines!