Michael Cooper
Wine writer·New Zealand Listener·
19 Feb, 2026 05:06 PM3 mins to read
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In vino veritas: The evidence in wine fraudster Rudy Kurniawan’s trial. Photo / Getty Images
A “wine thief” is a pipette used to extract small samples of wine from tanks and barrels. The name also suits Rudy Kurniawan, who was born Zhen Wang Huang in Indonesia in 1976. After arriving in the US on a student visa in the late 1990s, Kurniawan remained there
illegally from 2003 until he was deported in 2021.
In the early 2000s, Kurniawan began trading in large volumes of rare wines and hosting tastings. By creating fake vintages of expensive wines that in real life had never been produced, he invited disaster but got away with the ruse for many years.
Kurniawan tried to sell more magnums of 1947 Château Lafleur (a prized red from Pomerol) than had ever been produced. In 2008, he sent several bottles of grand cru Domaine Ponsot Clos Saint-Denis to a New York auction house, labelled with vintages from 1945 to 1971. After the estate’s owner, Laurent Ponsot, flew to New York and declared Ponsot had never made a Clos Saint-Denis before 1982, the lot was withdrawn from sale.
The FBI arrested Kurniawan in 2012 at his home in California. Together with counterfeiting tools, including corks, labels and stamps, they found cheap bottles of Napa Valley wines with indications that they were intended to be sold as fake Bordeaux. Kurniawan had also been buying old, relatively humble bottles of red Burgundy and relabelling them with famous names and vintages.
Sentenced to a decade in prison, Kurniawan was released in 2020 after six years. A leading US wine authenticator, Maureen Downey, estimated in 2018 that about US$550 million worth of Kurniawan’s wine was still in circulation. “Here’s the problem: if I have a client with counterfeit wine, [the auctioneer] will give them their money back after they sign an NDA [non-disclosure agreement] and return the bottles. We know those bottles aren’t being destroyed … so the wines end up getting recirculated.”
Since 2023, Kurniawan has put his penchant for fraud to good use, entertaining guests at select dinners in Singapore with his legitimate recreations of truly classy wines. These are often preferred to expensive wines, probably due to their relative freshness.
Imagine if we could all buy wines labelled Kurniawan for $100 that taste better than European classics selling for $1000. Is the wine thief missing an opportunity?
Wine of the week
Pask Gimblett Gravels Cabernet/Merlot/Malbec 2021
★★★★
Almost 5 years old, this surprisingly youthful Hawke’s Bay red has deep, still purple-flushed colour. Mouthfilling, it has lush, vibrant blackcurrant, red berry, herb and spice flavours to the fore, savoury, nutty characters adding a touch of complexity and a smooth, very harmonious finish. Best drinking mid-2027+. (14% alc/vol) $25
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