The wine world may still remember the infamous wine fraudster Rudy Kurniawan, who was nicknamed ‘Dr Conti’ for his love towards Burgundy wine. His trial in 2013 marked the first time the US government tried a defendant for counterfeiting wine. The issue of counterfeit wines has since then become increasingly public and concerning.
Among the most commonly counterfeited wines such as Lafite, Lafleur or Pétrus, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, or DRC, is one of the most anticipated and counterfeited wine labels on the world auction scene due to its astronomical price.
Known as one of Burgundy’s most renowned wine producers, DRC sells wines from eight different grand cru vineyards, including its most famous vineyard Romanée-Conti.
The domaine is well-known for its historical value with its roots dating back to 1232 when the Abbey of Saint Vivant in Vosne first acquired the vineyard. Nowadays, DRC vineyards lie on UNESCO World Heritage sites in Burgundy’s Côte de Beaune and the Côte de Nuits regions, which were enshrined by the United Nations in 2015.
There is no doubt that the long history and its Burgundy root make DRC special, but the rarity of the wine plays a huge role in its soaring price.
While Chateau Lafite Rothschild produces about 15,000 to 20,000 cases of wine per year, DRC only produces between 6,000 and 8,000 cases annually. Its most famous Romanée-Conti produces only 450 cases, making the wine extremely difficult to obtain. As such, the prestigious wine would be more scarce and valuable after each bottle is sold and consumed.
According to Wine-Searcher.com, the average price of the entry-level Corton Grand Cru is up to HK$23,430 (US$3,007), and the rarefied Romaneé-Conti Grand Cru is averagely priced at HK$188,364 (US$24,178).
In October 2018, DRC broke the world record for the most expensive bottle of wine. Two bottles of 1945 Romanée-Conti were sold for US$558,000 and US$496,000 at a Sotheby’s New York auction, surpassing the estimated price of US$22,000 to 32,000. Only 600 bottles were produced by the domaine in 1945, making it a highly coveted vintage.
With DRC’s world-breaking records comes fraudsters and ill-intended merchants who are scheming to pass off counterfeit bottles at auctions. Here we rounded up the four times when DRC were alleged as counterfeits at famed auction houses.
Scroll through the pages below to read them all.
1. 2002 & 2002 Romanee Conti
Most recently in November, auction house Acker Merrall & Conduit has withdrawn two bottles of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti offered in two separate Hong Kong auctions due to their authenticity concerns.
At its September 25 sale in Hong Kong, Acker sold a 6 liter 2002 DRC Romanee Conti for HK$3,087,600 (US$398,400), which set a new world record at the time. Then Acker offered another 6 liter bottle of 2000 DRC at the November 6 auction.
According to Wine-Searcher.com, the total production volume of 2000 and 2002 Romanee Conti were 6,286 and 5,548 bottles respectively.
In terms of the wine’s tasting experience, the respected wine critic Jancis Robinson has rated the 2000 vintage with 19 marks out of 20 as the aroma “takes you to another dimension than simple fruit”. She has also given out 19 marks out for the 2002 vintage and described it as “very direct attack, very refreshing and frank”.
Unfortunately, both DRC bottles offered by Acker may not be the above-mentioned divine wines as they were alleged by the LA-based lawyer and wine fraud expert Don Cornwell to be “clearly counterfeit”.
It may be hard for buyers or collectors to tell at once, but Cornwell found “a series of identical defects” regarding neck labels, wax capsules and printing alignments on both Acker’s bottles after comparing with Sotheby’s offers of the same size vintages in Joseph Lau’s sale in Hong Kong and another sale in France.
The lawyer wrote on an online forum WineBerserkers.com that, “Both of the Acker 6 Liter bottles had short wax capsules of mixed brown and violet color (with obvious dark mottling from the mixed wax) with a flat finish instead of the 3 plus inch long violet colored glossy wax finish on the original DRC 6 liter bottles from the 2000 and 2002 vintages.”
Although the timeline of Acker’s follow-up actions is not fully clear, the auction house said the 2002 DRC sale has been rescinded and the 2000 DRC has been withdrawn from auction when approached by Vino Joy News.
2. 1924 Romanee Conti
In 2020, Acker Merrall & Condit again withdrew a lot featuring a 1924 Romanee Conti before its Hong Kong auction on June 11-13 after Don Cornwell’s questions about its authenticity.
The bottle of 1924 DRC Romanée Conti was estimated to sell at HK$160,000 to 224,000 (US $20,000 to 28,000). The auction house said it came from the cellar of collector Aziz Khan and had been imported to the US by Collectors’ Cellar, a company owned by Bipin Desai.
Since the 1924 DRC Romanée Conti is a very early vintage, examining its authenticity can be tricky. The bottle ready for auction came with “Romanée Conti 1924” scrawled in green pen on a self-adhesive white label.
It was described by Cornell as “unquestionably counterfeit”. He pointed out that the glass used in other officially verified DRC bottles from the 1920s were made from smooth glass in a classic Burgundy shape.
Also, the wax seals on authentic bottles are “very thin” and had turned “orange/almost beige from oxidation”, but the Acker bottle has a relatively thick wax and had been “artificially weathered”.
Andrew Bigbee, CEO of Acker Asia, confirmed with Vino Joy News on June 8 that the lot has been removed and was previously purchased by the consignor at Zachy’s auction in September 2012. It is worthy noting that the withdrawal did not prove the wine is a counterfeit but more of an act of caution and responsibility.
3. 1962 La Tâche
In 2013, Christie’s withdrew a magnum of DRC from a New York auction scheduled to take place on 31 May after questions towards its authenticity raised by collectors and the prestigious domaine itself.
La Tâche is another DRC’s wholly-owned monopole other than Romanée-Conti. A bottle of La Tâche is averagely priced at HK$48,578 (US$6,235).
Before Christie’s New York auction, the allegedly counterfeited 1962 DRC La Tâche had an estimated price of US$18,000 to US$24,000. It was sold by Christie’s to an American collector at a New York auction in December 2010, and was consequently consigned for sale by the same buyer in 2012.
Don Cornwell wrote on the WineBerserkers.com that the bottle bears several inauthentic details and shows similarities to magnums of 1962 La Tâche sold by the infamous wine fraudster Rudy Kurniawan. For instance, the circumflex over the “A” in “Tâche” was not typical on DRC labels before the 1970s.
The most fatal allegation came from DRC co-owner and co-director Aubert de Villaine. He told Wine Spectator that the capsule is “obviously not original ” and believed DRC would not authenticate it.
In the end, Christie’s withdrew the bottle from sale as a precautionary measure.
4. 1971 Romanée-Conti, 1971 La Tâche and 1966 Montrachet
In 2012, UK merchant Vanquish and US auction house Spectrum withdrew 13 lots of DRC from a London auction that took place on 8 February. The removal occurred after London wine merchant Corney & Barrow, Jancis Robinson and Don Cornwell voiced concerns about the bottle’s apparent discrepancies.
The DRC wines featured in the 13 lots included a case of 1971 Romanée-Conti with an estimate of £80,000 (US$106,348), three jeroboams of the same vintage estimated at £65,000 (US$86,408), six magnums of 1971 La Tâche at £30,000 (US$39,880) and two seven-bottle lots of 1966 DRC Montrachet with estimates of £37,000 (US$49,186).
Corney & Barrow’s managing director Adam Brett-Smith commented on Corney’s website about the doubts after Jancis Robinson reacting to an extraordinary list published by Don Cornwell.
Cornwell presented 15 detailed points, counting the spelling mistakes on a slip label, missing and incorrect accents, missing digits in bottle numbers, inconsistency in the condition of capsules and labels, lack of provenance details and more.
5. Henry Tang’s collection
Hong Kong’s former chief secretary Henry Tang is known a oenophile, but some of his most prized collections raised concerns of authenticity by Don Cornwell. In March 2013 at his own wine auction sale organized by Christie’s, a few DRC offers were alleged by the LA lawyer as counterfeited wine.
Cornwell wrote to Christie’s and the FBI that three lots in Tang’s collection were problematic, including a methuselah of 1971 La Tâche, a three-bottle lot of 1959 Romanée-Conti and a 12-bottle case of 1978 Montrachet.
He noted that Tang’s 1971 La Tache bears two signature labels, meaning it is a later released version as the initial release bears a single signature label.
However, Tang’s bottle also bears the number 0001, which Cornwell suspected and wrote, “There is no logical explanation for how a bottle labelled and issued at least a year after the initial release of the 1971 vintage could have Methuselah No0001 on it.”
He also raised concerns over the other two lots regarding their bottles and wax. Eventually, the La Tâche was withdrawn as a precautionary measure but the other two lots went under hammer.
Lot 256 with 12-bottle case 1978 Montrachet was sold for HK$847,000 (US$108,715), surpassing its estimated value of HK$400,000 to HK$600,000 (US$51,341 to US$77,012). It was the second most expensive lot out of all 809 lots sold by Christies from the sale.
Lot 165 consisting of a three-bottle 1959 Romanée-Conti was sold for HK$242,000 (US$31,061).
Cornwell alleged that Tang bought a number of the bottles from Richard Torin, the largest customer of Antonio Castanos, who acted as the wholesaler for wines supplied by Rudy Kurniawan. But a person close to Tang said he got his wine from a reliable supplier in Britain two decades ago when Kurniawan had not started selling wines.
Later, both Tang and Christie’s said they have confirmation from DRC that it has no concerns over the three lots’ authenticity.