New York magazine on the biggest wine fraud ever

Just ran across this long New York magazine piece, which came out about three weeks ago. It's an examination of how a bunch of wealthy, savvy, experienced collectors of very high-end Bordeaux, Burgundy and other wines got duped by a dedicated con artist, Rudy Kurniawan.

The article ticks off a lot of reasons that Kurniawan was able to pass off "plonk" for Petrus, making him something of a wine world alchemist. Eventually, he was caught, after making a massive splash in the wine world's most rarified circles and raking tens of millions of dollars from beguiled collectors.

This is a pretty remarkable piece, and shows how greedy Kurniawan became, pushing the bounds of believability when he went to sell an over-the-top collection that defied the bounds of possibility. He also got sloppy, selling one rare wine as a 1923 when the house had begun operating until 1924.

The lesson to me that I share with you is that the more money is involved in a field of collectibles, the more skepticism and care are needed to protect yourself. Relationships matter a lot, but so too does just keeping your eyes open and your brain working. If things don't add up, slow down and figure out what's happening.