Wine – Romanée-Conti counterfeit auction…

If there is a name that occupies the minds and nights of wine lovers, it is indeed that of the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. So when an auction of old bottles from this renowned estate is announced, people are going crazy. Let's go back to this historic auction… and issues.

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An auction that promised to be exceptional

"Everything that is rare is expensive"

Romanée-Conti wines are among the most expensive in the world for two simple reasons : high quality and rarity. This small estate of only about thirty hectares has only one hectare for the Grand Cru de la Romanée-Conti. Every year, only 200 bottles are produced for more than 100’000 people on the waiting list for the pleasure of a bottle.

For Michael Ganne, this exceptional wine auction is "the most important of the last two decades in continental Europe". He said, however, that the market is less buoyant than a few years ago due to economic uncertainties and China's anti-corruption policy..

Six bottles of Romanée-Conti withdrawn from sale

Six bottles of Roméanée-Conti were withdrawn from the auction of 22 May, after suspected counterfeiting. American wine fraud expert questioned the authenticity of these bottles.

At the last minute, the six bottles were withdrawn from sale. The remainder of the sale of the 1,407 bottles proceeded as planned. Bagheera Wines auction house, said they would "urgently" verify the authenticity of all bottles offered for sale.

"We take protecting the best interests of our customers very seriously", said Michael Ganne, Bagheera director. “I am sure that the overwhelming majority of the lots offered will turn out to be genuine. If in doubt, the sale will be canceled ”. M. Ganne said he ordered the immediate withdrawal of "five or six lots" due to allegations made on Wineberserkers.com.

Despite the doubts, the auction still took place and exceeded five million euros, significantly above estimate. Suspicions of counterfeiting were made by lawyer and burgundy wine expert Don Cornwell, living in Los Angeles. It is described as "wine fraudsters' worst nightmare". M. Cornwell has come to prominence in various legal actions relating to fine wine auctions over the past few years..

In a long and very detailed post on the Wine Berserkers website, he announced that "many lots" in the sale were "outright counterfeit, is very questionable ". In his article, the author denounces 19 lots to be withdrawn and 30 to 40 suspicious lots, supporting photographs. He asked for the withdrawal of the former and an independent expertise to be made on the others : suspicious labels, bad capsules, bad engravings on the glass of the bottle or bad protections… Everything goes there.

Speaking of a vintage bottle 1978 estimated at over 13’000 €, he declared that "the glass of the bottle was engraved… It immediately made me think that this bottle is fake, because no bottle of Domaine de la Romanée Conti of the vintage 1978 was not engraved. The only vintage with an engraved bottle was the vintage 1974 ".

" So, obviously, someone took bottles of Romanée-Conti from 1974 to transform them into bottles of Romanée-Conti de 1978. "

For some years, the wine market is subject to speculative investment. Rather than buying good bottles to savor them, investors now speculate on the price and its evolution. This trend has given rise to another : counterfeiting. Counterfeiters attempt to make a fortune by copying the label or placing an authentic label on a lower quality bottle of wine. La Romanée-Conti has not escaped the rule.

In its long dispute, M. Cornwell declared that he was convinced that the "wines of the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti […] do not come from a private Swiss collector, but rather from a Luxembourg wine investment fund known as Nobles Crus "liquidated in 2012. According to him, after the liquidation of the company, many bottles were offered to other auction houses who had refused them because of their questionable provenance.

Asked about these allegations, M. Ganne de Bagheera Wines said “I don't want to get into controversy. We are investigating and will have a full response to all of these allegations shortly.. If a lot is proven to be doubtful, its sale will not be maintained ”.

The game of eleven mistakes of the counterfeit Petrus

You think you've found all the mistakes ? Here is the list of what to find.

The capsule is counterfeit :

1. the red capsule is the wrong color. The capsule on the Baghera magnum is primary red as opposed to the bright red colored candy apple used by Petrus.
2. Moreover, the information "Bottled at the castle" should have been on two lines printed in a much smaller font.

The label has several errors :

1. The words "Exceptional Cru" are missing, normally indicated in the middle of the label of the magnums of Château Petrus in 1961.
2. The text of the counterfeit label appears in a different order from the original. This text was used on the bottles of 75 cl and not magnums. The counterfeiter either copied the label of a bottle of 75 cl, either affix the real label of a bottle of 75 lacl de Petrus 1961 on the magnum.
3. The label on the left bottle is smaller. Labels for the magnum of 1961 almost completely cover the visible part of the glass from right to left.
4. The word Petrus from the fake bottle does not feature the same level of detail as the typical layered-shadow lettering.
5. Details of the vines on either side of the label are obscured, as if the label were photocopied.
6. In the left corner of the fake label, it is written 1,48 in bold and black ink. This part is darker than the rest of the label, which suggests that this number has been added to the label.
7. This 1,48 does not appear on the labels of authentic Petrus magnums.
8. This 1,48 — understand here 148 cl - does not correspond to the quantity indicated on the relief of the bottle which indicates 150 cl.
9. Finally, the fake label is extremely wrinkled as if it was a four year old child who stuck it on.

Jean-Nicolas Mouretin