Wine Forensics, the science of fraud detection

I have had an avalanche of emails asking me about wine forensics. So for both of you that asked, settle in for my usual verbose explanation of a science that if I did not invent, I may have at least named.

Fraud, fire flood, and taxes. Is that wine what it says it is? Was really happened in the fire? Are those wines still good after being soaked in water? What is that collection really worth? Law enforcement agencies and insurance companies are ill equipped to answer these and similar questions. A strong wine background, well trained deductive reasoning, and a deep understanding of basic sciences are required and rarely found in one place.

Two of my favorite cases do a good job of illustrating not only what skills are required, but the scope of the problem that wine forensics hopes to address.

The Case of Storage Sneaks

Mr. X (the names have been changed to protect, well someone). Mr. X stored his wine with a company that rented wine lockers. The wine was temperature controlled, guarded 24 hours a day, and seemingly as safe as it could be. For 20 years he added wines to this long term cellar, and never really thought twice about it.

The day came for him to dredge out a few of his wines, and begin to enjoy the rewards of sustained aging. A 1982 Ch. Petrus, one of the most expensive wines in the world, was his crowning glory, and he had high hopes for the wine. Alas, when he opened it he was disappointed to find a rather dull red wine. He suspected he was a victim fraud.

His wine was insured, as was the locker facility. Suspecting that the retailer that sold him the wine was to blame, he contacted his insurance company. The investigators found that the retail shop had gone out of business, and really didn't know where to turn to next.

They turned to me. They sent me a few bottles of the suspect wine. At first glance it looked fine. In the hand it felt a bit light, as if the bottle was made from a thinner glass than I expected. The capsule, on top of the bottle was also thin, too thin and flimsy for a wine of this class, and from that era. I took a very close look at the label, and while it looked perfect at first, I noticed the slightest bit of white border on one side. An authentic label would have been printed with a bleed (overlap) and there should not be any white showing.

There was now no question that this wine was a fraud. The question now was: who perpetrated the fraud? Was it the retailer back in 84, or did the wine storage company have a part to play?

It was time to taste the wine. Here is where most investigations have trouble. Chemical analysis is incapable of determining where the wine was made, and what quality it was. A least it was then, some recent breakthroughs and even the Chernobyl accident have changed this a bit.

I opened a bottle of the fraudulent Petrus, and found a young new world Cabernet Sauvignon. There was no way this wine was 20 years old. This left the storage company as suspects. A night guard was later convicted of stealing the wine and replacing it with the counterfeit wine. If not ironic, it is at least worth noting that the thief used Cabernet for the replacement, instead of the Merlot that Petrus is made from.

Wine fraud is more widespread than most people think. Not only are very expensive wines counterfeited, but even every day drinking wines. In a recent example in England, the wine that the ferries was selling as a Rioja were found to be fraudulent. When they arrested the suspects they found many thousand more labels, proving that they were counting on quantity to make the venture worthwhile. Tens of thousands of bottles of the wine was sold, without anyone knowing any better.

My next case shows another nefarious side of human nature.

The Case of the Bubbling Bubblies

Ms. Y had a lot of wine. She also had a lot of insurance. She had a mortgage she was having paying, and she had very little prospects for the future. Ms. Y's house burned to the ground one winter evening. Among the many claims of damages she filed were the hundreds of exquisite wines that had been ruined.

I was called in to look at the wines to see if they told me anything, and indeed they did. The condition of the corks and foil looked odd to me. In almost every case they were still attached to the bottles. Experimentation would show that a more likely scenario with a bottle filled with wine, is that the cork would be pushed out all, or part way before the bottle burst. The bottles in question in this fire had been empties, resealed with the hopes of great reward.

My little tests not only led to an arson conviction, but a paper in an fraud investigation journal. I can only imagine how long Ms. Y was saving corks and empties, just waiting for the perfect time to torch her home. I just hope she enjoyed the wines she drank before the fire, as she is not likely to have another bottle any time soon.

I have also worked with the US Customs agency, the IRS and more than a few divorce attorneys in evaluating wine collections. Almost 20 years of appraising wines, and 5 year stint running a wine auction company have made me uniquely qualified to determine value. A quick look through the Wine Price File won't cut it.

Wine forensics is not as sexy as CSI. I don't get to wear a gun or arrest people, and there is unlikely to ever be a movie made of my life, but it is a valuable tool for investigators around the world. Wineries have been fined millions, individuals have been given jail time, and consumers and investors alike have been duped.

It is estimated that total wine fraud cost consumers hundreds of millions a year. Because it is in an industry that steeped in mystique and seemingly difficult to investigate, the amount may be higher than anyone thinks. While insurance companies and law agencies don't keep a wine pro on staff, they can always count on me to be an expert witness.

Part private eye, part wine snob, part tax assessor, I am the guy to call when the shiraz hits the fan.