Kurniawan Rudy

The wine merchant Rudy Kurniawan (*1976) from Indonesia is considered the "biggest and most successful wine counterfeiter in the world". In a trial in New York, he was proven to have counterfeited wine worth 20 million dollars. Therefore, he was sentenced to eight years in prison on 8 March 2012. Kurniawan had entered the USA with a student visa at the end of the 1990s and became the world's most sought-after rarity trader for old luxury wines from Bordeaux and Burgundy. At first, comparatively inexpensive old Burgundies from small vineyards and small wineries were stretched with young Pinot Noir wines from California. The auction "The Cellar II", which he organised in 2006, resulted in record proceeds of $ 24.7 million. Today, it is known that a large part of the wines were faked. Among others, there were eight magnum bottles of Château Lafleur vintage 1947. His speciality were large-sized bottles of the vintage 1947 as well as wines from the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. That's why he was called "Mr. 47" or "Dr. Conti" in the scene.

To read the full text, you must be a Premium Member of wein.plus. You are currently not logged in to wein.plus. Become a Premium Member or log in with your credentials .

Become a Premium Member of wein.plus

Voices of our members

wein.plus is a handy, efficient guide to a quick overview of the colourful world of wines, winegrowers and grape varieties. In Wine lexicon, the most comprehensive of its kind in the world, you will find around 26,000 keywords on the subject of grape varieties, wineries, wine-growing regions and much more.
Roman Horvath MW
Domäne Wachau (Wachau)

Welcome back!

Kurniawan Rudy

To read the full text, you must be a Premium Member of wein.plus. You are currently not logged in to wein.plus. Become a Premium Member or log in with your credentials .

Voices of our members

The world's largest Lexicon of wine terms.

EVENTS NEAR YOU

PREMIUM PARTNERS:

Welcome back!

Please Note:

Kurniawan Rudy

To read the full text, you must be a Premium Member of wein.plus. You are currently not logged in to wein.plus. Become a Premium Member or log in with your credentials .

Voices of our members

The world's largest Lexicon of wine terms.

EVENTS NEAR YOU

PREMIUM PARTNERS: