Billionaire Scores $12M Award in Counterfeit Wine Case

William Koch
(photo: forbes.com)

The Koch brothers, those wild and crazy guys who brought you the Romney-Ryan Show, have a sibling who dabbles in exclusive wine. The bro -- William Koch -- recently took a fellow zillionaire to court over wine his fellow one percenter sold to him. Koch sued, claiming the defendant knowingly sold him the wrong stuff. According to a story in today's New York Daily News, the jury bought Koch's side of the story and awarded him $12 million in punitive damages, along with the original $380,000 sale price for the 24 bottles of counterfeit red.

Koch celebrated his legal victory at a French restaurant in New York with three bottles of legit, very expensive vintage wine.

Bull Market for Counterfeit Fine Wines

Chateau Petrus

How do you know if that bottle of red from a highfalutin' vineyard is legit? In most cases, you don't know, you can't know, and you probably won't ever know. Even among wine professionals, it takes years of training to distinguish between a fine wine and something a step above Yellowtail. It helps to live near the source of great wines, or visit these areas so frequently, so that one's palate becomes attuned to the qualities that make Chateau Haut Prix genuinely special.

A long time ago, I lived in Italy and became familiar with central Italian reds. When I returned to the States, it broke my heart to drink the junk masquerading as quality Tuscan wine. I mostly avoid Italian wines altogether now, although I do enjoy an honest Calabrian red called Gravello.

At least I don't have to brood about the high flying wines. That world is beyond my budget. However, there are wine fans who have the means, interest, and will to indulge their civilized tastes, and I say more power to them. Their issue is one of confidence in the wines' integrity.

Lately, supremely high end wines have caught the attention of enterprising counterfeiters. Some auction houses and merchants either knowingly or unwittingly sell fake vintages to eager wine collectors. The money made in these transactions is often too good to refuse.

Jancis Robinson, the superb doyenne of wine writers, offered her observations on this issue in today's Financial Times. You don't have to be able to afford Chateau Petrus to enjoy the piece, but you might not want to buy a case after you read it.