So I watched "Sour Grapes" again on Netflix yesterday....

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Sun Aug 02, 2020 7:38 pm

A lot of the action in that movie was going on when we had the NYC 2003 convention and first met John Kapon and Rudy and some of the others, according to the movie Rudy had an immigration warrant for his arrest out at the time he was with us at the convention. Does anybody have any pictures of that convention?
According to the internet Rudy's release date is November 2020 but he must be out by now with good time, no?
Has he been deported away?

Maureen really does quite an amazing job in that movie.

greatbxfreak · Post by **greatbxfreak** » Sun Aug 02, 2020 8:34 pm

Good to know that it can be seen on Netflix. Will see it tomorrow.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Sun Aug 02, 2020 10:41 pm

I gotta study that case again sometime.
It seems pretty hard to believe he counterfeited thousands of bottles out of that little operation in his kitchen.
I must not have watched to the end the first time, I did not remember about his criminal element banking relatives in Asia.
Ten years seems like an excessive sentence.
I remember talking to him the morning of the NYC convention in 2003, and he poured me something at the dinner, but I don’t remember much else about him. I remember Kapon a lot more.

marcs · Post by **marcs** » Mon Aug 03, 2020 2:21 am

"Sour Grapes" is well calculated to make you feel like an idiot for being a wine collector/hobbyist. Especially our kind, collecting the traditionally "great" European wine regions.

It's not just the fact that Rudy was counterfeiting things, it's the sheer philistinism and stupidity of the entire scene he was part of. Rudy just preyed off the idiots in that scene who were basically asking for it. Nothing like reading one of those "12 angry men" posts on the old Parker board to totally demystify wine and reveal even the greatest wines as a frat boy arena for pointless drunken conspicuous consumption.

Agree that Rudy's sentence seems way too long. You could fracture somebody's skull in an assault, change their life forever, and as long as they didn't die you'd probably get less than 10 years -- at least that's my understanding of criminal sentencing. Not to mention Rudy getting a much longer sentence than John Fox who stole more money from more people, and less wealthy people too.

tim · Post by **tim** » Mon Aug 03, 2020 5:47 am

I wish I had more pics from BWE NY 2003. I think I posted everything I had.

The 12 Angry Men never went away. The main group is still getting together and still acting with the same frat-boy mentality. It really degrades wine, imo. It is the exact opposite of BWE.

Musigny 151 · Post by **Musigny 151** » Mon Aug 03, 2020 1:36 pm

marcs wrote:"Sour Grapes" is well calculated to make you feel like an idiot for being a wine collector/hobbyist. Especially our kind, collecting the traditionally "great" European wine regions.

It's not just the fact that Rudy was counterfeiting things, it's the sheer philistinism and stupidity of the entire scene he was part of. Rudy just preyed off the idiots in that scene who were basically asking for it. Nothing like reading one of those "12 angry men" posts on the old Parker board to totally demystify wine and reveal even the greatest wines as a frat boy arena for pointless drunken conspicuous consumption.

Agree that Rudy's sentence seems way too long. You could fracture somebody's skull in an assault, change their life forever, and as long as they didn't die you'd probably get less than 10 years -- at least that's my understanding of criminal sentencing. Not to mention Rudy getting a much longer sentence than John Fox who stole more money from more people, and less wealthy people too.

Marc,
I really can’t agree that Rudy’s sentence is too long. There is a sense that because these guys are wealthy, and frankly the movie shows them as unappetizing human beings, it is almost a victimless crime. It is how the likes of John Fox, Barry Silver, the guy who faked Romanee Conti and many others get away with it. Light sentences because it is a first world crime.

The problem is that it is still a crime, and so long as the sentences are laughably short for the seriousness of the offense, it will continue. I am currently a plaintiff in a law suit against one of these cheats, and will probably not see a penny, and he will never be prosecuted. One of his victims lost her life savings. Others significant amounts, which will impact them for years. And one of Rudy’s victims is friend, and one of the nicest people I know. Rudy deserves every day in jail.

AKR · Post by **AKR** » Tue Aug 04, 2020 1:56 pm

For many of these criminals, what they end up going to jail for is just a sliver of the mayhem they have caused over the years. The ten years he was out of the public protected society, even if its expensive to confine them. The damage they cause on the loose is even more.

Also I suppose in other parts of the world, angering a billionaire is likely to lead more serious consequences than here. Can you imagine what would happen to someone who cheated a Russian oligarch or a Mexican drug kingpin? a 10Y sentence seems light in that perspective

marcs · Post by **marcs** » Tue Aug 04, 2020 4:16 pm

Whatever, we will never agree on punishments, but note the penalty for felony aggravated assault -- potentially crippling someone for life -- is a maximum of a ten year prison term. Ripping off some egotistical rich people on fake old wines strikes me as fundamentally less serious. If you don't think that, consider the choice between having your skull fractured by a tire iron and spending some money on a supposed 1947 Pomerol that is actually a California merlot. WHich would you rather have happen?

In America we are way too punitive and gloatingly eager for people to be locked in cages. Long prison terms are terrible penalties that should be reserved for terrible things.

AKR · Post by **AKR** » Wed Aug 05, 2020 5:13 pm

I'm not sure that economic crimes like theft should be any less punished. Someone steals a widows life savings leaving her destitute. That's basically stealing her life.

I'm all in favor of that getting punished severely. Society is better off when those predators are not on the loose.

I think this choice you pose: get your head smacked or get ripped off is a false strawman argument. I don't want either, and the way to keep people safe is to confine those who would harm them.

AKR · Post by **AKR** » Wed Aug 05, 2020 5:15 pm

Oh I also watched Sour Grapes last night for the first time. So many of the players in the movie end up looking like such outright jackasses.

Thankfully Maureen, Don, Ponsot and a few others end up looking quite honorable.

Any other wine related movies on Netflix that are worth watching?

marcs · Post by **marcs** » Wed Aug 05, 2020 5:55 pm

Well, IMO we lock up too many people for too long in this country. It's a pretty savage punishment. Interesting Jim's perspective as someone who does both criminal defense and spends too much money on wine.

Musigny 151 · Post by **Musigny 151** » Wed Aug 05, 2020 6:07 pm

quote="marcs"]Well, IMO we lock up too many people for too long in this country. It's a pretty savage punishment. Interesting Jim's perspective as someone who does both criminal defense and spends too much money on wine.[/quote]

There needs to be some disincentive to try and prevent fraud, otherwise it will just continue. If we can figure Rudy made several million dollars for his efforts, then ten years is a pretty reasonable return.

Part of the problem is that it is seen as a victimless crime, that these were first world jackasses who had it coming. They come across as unsympathetic, greedy and in one case, perverted. All I wanted to do was smack them myself. Yet this is not a fair portrait, only some of them are jackasses.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Wed Aug 05, 2020 6:29 pm

I'm probably the last guy you want to ask, having practiced criminal law for 35 years, the first three as a prosecutor and the last 32 as a defense lawyer.
I believe incarceration should be the absolute last, most extreme outcome, reserved for only the worst, usually most violent cases.
I believe in restorative justice. There are many other ways to "punish" than through incarceration.
It is a scandal that we are up there with Saudi Arabia and China in our incarceration rates.
If I were a candidate for political office I would be calling for reductions of incarceration by at least half in our jails.
And as opposed as I am to incarceration, it is of course the disparities in sentencing and justice that are the biggest outrages.
If you are poor and black you go to prison for years for selling a rock of cocaine.
There have been people sentenced in this country under three strike laws who have gone to prison for life for selling marijuana or a rock of cocaine.
If you are Roger Stone or Michael Cohen, you walk.
I've seen people who have stolen toothbrushes and shampoo from Walmart who have gone to jail or prison for longer periods than some well-heeled defendants charged with much more serious felonies.
The typical vehicular manslaughter sentence is 1 to 3 years, about one fifth the sentence Rudy received.
We can put people in house arrest, probation, work release, we can order restitution, and fines.
Our jail systems are bankrupt. And many now are privately owned for profit, a whole 'nuther scandal.
You should see this place where my Alaska guy is sitting right now, the Fairbanks Correctional Center in East Butt Fuck, Alaska, five thousand miles from home, it is a tie between that and a Turkish prison. Now I'm sure there are many who say why should we improve accommodations for someone charged with murder but this guy is screaming his innocence and the more I dig into this case the more I think he may just be innocent. But, hey, what's the presumption of innocence, they're all guilty, no? Well, not about 85% of the time when I take them to trial.
On his three month cross country journey while being extradited he made a stop in the lower Manhattan jail where Epstein killed himself, a place where prisoners WANT to go to Rikers.
We are barbarians in this country.
Ten years for a non-violent crime like Rudy's is obscene in my book.
I can cite you hundreds of cases involving far worse conduct that resulted in a fraction of the sentence.
I wonder what Maureen thinks about Rudy's sentence? She's pretty conservative. We saw her outside the lower Manhattan courthouse after the sentencing in Sour Grapes.
Judging by the courtroom etchings, was that the federal judge who ruled in favor of Tom Brady in the Deflategate scandal who was later flipped by the circuit court? (Speaking of another lynching.)
I have seen so much injustice in 35 years, and it is only getting worse as we have become a meaner, uglier country.

marcs · Post by **marcs** » Wed Aug 05, 2020 6:36 pm

I think I'm with Jim.

Shorter sentences, focus on violent crimes, rehabilitative prisons as opposed to our current torture warehouses. Focus on use of incarceration to age young violent people out of age where they commit a lot of crime while doing rehabilitative programming.

For people who commit economic crimes there are many ways to make "crime not pay" without sending them to prison for a long time. Track down their money and fine the shit out of them. Restrict their ability to practice the profession where they committed the crime.

Chateau Vin · Post by **Chateau Vin** » Wed Aug 05, 2020 7:59 pm

I agree, Jim...

We have become ‘lock up’ country... sooner or later this whole judicial industrial complex will come crashing down...

People say, ‘lock them up and society will be better off’... really? Wow...

More than locking up, as Jim mentioned, disparity in the justice being dispensed based on socio economic status is the ultimate injustice.

If the meaning is symbolic, I am glad that lady justice is blindfolded— not because she is supposed to dispense justice equally irrespective of socio economic status, but because she is spared from seeing the injustice of justice being dispensed based on socio economic status.

If given a chance I think one should visit or drive through hinterlands, inner cities and native reservations to see how appalling the conditions are...

A person, who is rich and does a criminal act, goes scot free, arguing that he/she suffers from ‘affluenza’, from being wealthy. On the otherhand, a poor teenager who is hungry and steals food from a convenience store is locked up...

What a society we live in...

The other important thing in this judicial industrial complex is the rehabilitation of the people who served. People are locked up longer for petty crimes and when they come out, they are ostracized so much that it becomes so hard for them to find a job and earn livelihood. Many of them end up doing the same crimes with no hope of getting out... while the rich get pardons, and bemoan the loss of their law license and crib that they can’t practice and earn their livelihood... and never mind these same rich white collar criminals often have financial means that can outlast them...

AKR · Post by **AKR** » Wed Aug 05, 2020 8:03 pm

'track down their money' ?!?! The Feds weren't able to retrieve any of the 17mm that Rudy sent abroad, and that likely played some role in the sentence. He'll get out at the end of his ten years, be deported, and will have been effectively been paid 1.7mm per year to sit in jail when he retrieves the stolen funds from whatever rathole he secreted them in.

The endgame is that after RK is sent back to Asia, he'll just revert back to his old ways, selling fake stuff in the HK/Chinese markets, which are even more bandit country for buyers. And maybe no one here is sympathetic to Petrus & Coke swilling taipans getting ripped off, but thieves end up preying on everyone. So society pays collectively.

AKR · Post by **AKR** » Wed Aug 05, 2020 8:12 pm

And lest there be any confusion: I'm not in favor of pardoning white collar or any other kind of criminals either. Let's just get rid of all this pardoning/clemency process which just favors the politically connected. We've got a system of judges & juries, and laws that provide a framework. Let that work.

That Illinois governor* who got himself pardoned is another horrible case. No special perks for Presidents and Governors to give out Get out of Jail Free cards to their buddies! Save that for Monopoly.

* multiple ones have been convicted

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Wed Aug 05, 2020 11:15 pm

So I was just talking to my buddy Steve, the (now-retired) prosecutor who was there that night in New York City in 2003, the night of the (in)famous BWE convention. Many of you remember him, he doesn't drink alcohol but attended our convention in Napa 2002, NYC 2003, and Chicago 2004.

We were trying to piece together that weekend. Maybe I'll start a separate thread on this. We know where we were on Thursday night (Yonkers/Bronxville), we know where we were on Saturday night (midtown Manhattan), but we're a little confused by Friday night. I think I'm coming to the conclusion that we did BOTH the Burghound/Whuzzup__ Burgundy event -- where EVERY one of the wait staff was African American, by the way -- AND the midtown Chinese restaurant on that Friday night? I know that Steve and I had lunch with Francois that next Saturday morning, as I was fielding calls from the likes of Rudy and John Kapon, and Nicolas was getting a haircut on Sunday morning. What is confusing me is that Friday evening...

Tom In DC · Post by **Tom In DC** » Thu Aug 06, 2020 12:28 am

I think the sentence also reflected Rudy never admitting that anyone else was involved.

I think Kapon did irreparable harm to wine consumers by "lending" millions to Rudy to buy wine at Acker auctions. Rudy ran up the prices on everything in sight, then resold after prices had been inflated by his bids. It was very close to a shill situation in my mind.

Jim - I also recall the Burghound/Whuzzup DRC tasting and dinner at Henry's Evergreen both happening on Friday night. What a weekend! And I REALLY need a haircut!

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Thu Aug 06, 2020 12:34 am

You are absolutely right Tom.
I just got a text back from Steve, who kept a meticulous diary of the weekend.
We left for the Burgundy tasting with Burghound at 5:45 pm on Friday night, then arrived later at Henry's Evergeen by two limousines.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Thu Aug 06, 2020 12:37 am

When you say the DRC tasting, though, did we drink DRC that year or was it in Chicago a year later?
Burghound was with us in both 2003 and 2004.

tim · Post by **tim** » Thu Aug 06, 2020 1:21 am

DRC tasting was in Chicago.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Thu Aug 06, 2020 1:26 am

I was just re-watching the documentary.
It sounds like Maureen was somewhat sympathetic to him at the end at the courthouse steps.

I'm not so sure justice was done in that case.

DavidG · Post by **DavidG** » Thu Aug 06, 2020 9:23 am

AKR wrote:Oh I also watched Sour Grapes last night for the first time. So many of the players in the movie end up looking like such outright jackasses.

Thankfully Maureen, Don, Ponsot and a few others end up looking quite honorable.

Any other wine related movies on Netflix that are worth watching?

I liked You Will Be My Son. Set in a French vineyard but about the people, not the wines.

Don’t see it on Netflix though.
https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/you-will-be-my-son

AKR · Post by **AKR** » Thu Aug 06, 2020 4:39 pm

Funnily enough I was debating watching 'You will be my Son' last night!

I ended up watching BottleShock instead, which was a charming movie about the 1976 CA vs French blind tasting. Alan Rickman, Dennis Farina, Bill Pullman all gave great performances in particular Rickman.

I'm going to watch a ton of wine movies and documentaries in the next few weeks. I have hardly watched any shows/tv etc in the last few months and my Samsung home theatre system was just repaired (under warranty).

So "You will be my son" is on the To Do list!

jal · Post by **jal** » Thu Aug 06, 2020 6:03 pm

Try Back to Burgundy on Amazon Prime; semi autobiographical based on Jean Marc Roulot (who contributed on the script) the White Burgundy superstar. I liked it well enough but thought it was very predictable and all the conflicts could be solved with some minimal conversation between the protagonists.

Hulu has all 3 Somm movies, I liked the 3rd one a little more than the first two but thought they all take themselves a bit too seriously for my liking.

DavidG · Post by **DavidG** » Thu Aug 06, 2020 7:06 pm

Here are a couple of BBC documentaries, one on BBR and one on Margaux. Nothing hard-hitting but a pleasant mindless couple of hours on one of our favorite subjects.

https://vimeo.com/34131557
https://vimeo.com/34125094

Ianjaig · Post by **Ianjaig** » Thu Aug 06, 2020 8:24 pm

Somm was good. I also enjoyed 'Uncorked' (also on Netflix). Not a documentary but a movie with a wine thread through it.

tim · Post by **tim** » Fri Aug 07, 2020 4:59 am

AKR wrote: I ended up watching BottleShock instead, which was a charming movie about the 1976 CA vs French blind tasting. Alan Rickman, Dennis Farina, Bill Pullman all gave great performances in particular Rickman.

I loved Bottle Shock. I realize they take quite a few creative liberties with history, but it was a great movie, and wine is definitely center stage. For me, it was everything that Sideways lacked (I really didn't like that movie).

All of the Somm movies touch something personal for me. I've met several people in each of them. An interesting fact about Somm3: the room in which they do the tasting is the same room in which Francois holds his Academie des Vins Anciens dinners in Paris. I've had dinner there at least 10 times, perhaps more, including a dinner with Stephen Spurrier celebrating the 40th anniversary of the 1976 Judgement. Fantastic venue.

jckba · Post by **jckba** » Fri Aug 07, 2020 11:24 am

French wine importer Martine Saunier was also featured in a trio of wine movies / documentaries entitled ‘A year in Burgundy / Champagne / Port’ all of which are available on Netflix and provide glimpses into the region and the wine making process across several different producers. So grab a glass and enjoy.

Nicklasss · Post by **Nicklasss** » Fri Aug 07, 2020 2:13 pm

JimHow wrote:So I was just talking to my buddy Steve, the (now-retired) prosecutor who was there that night in New York City in 2003, the night of the (in)famous BWE convention. Many of you remember him, he doesn't drink alcohol but attended our convention in Napa 2002, NYC 2003, and Chicago 2004.

We were trying to piece together that weekend. Maybe I'll start a separate thread on this. We know where we were on Thursday night (Yonkers/Bronxville), we know where we were on Saturday night (midtown Manhattan), but we're a little confused by Friday night. I think I'm coming to the conclusion that we did BOTH the Burghound/Whuzzup__ Burgundy event -- where EVERY one of the wait staff was African American, by the way -- AND the midtown Chinese restaurant on that Friday night? I know that Steve and I had lunch with Francois that next Saturday morning, as I was fielding calls from the likes of Rudy and John Kapon, and Nicolas was getting a haircut on Sunday morning. What is confusing me is that Friday evening...

On Friday night, after the Burghound/Bourgogne tasting organized by Whuzzup_, a bunch of us went to Whuzzup_'s brother appartment not that far from there. It was his birthday so we had some great wines there, like a flight of three Haut Brion blanc (1995, 1997 and 1998), some other top reds, Bourgogne and Bordeaux (there, my memory failed, but I remember there was one bottle of DRC opened), and a 1927 Vouvray was opened because Winedinner was in the house. I remember discussing a good moment in french with Allen Meadow.

That convention weekend in NYC 03 was sooo crazy, that even a young Nic had to no attend the convention for the three following years (2004-2005-2006). On the Saturday night, I can't remember how i made it back to the hotel. And on that Sunday dinner at Mr Tang, i was so wasted that i really thought at that right moment that i should bring and open a 1988 Haut Brion as it would be the last time i would see the BWEers... and get a haircut as everyone were telling me i look shitty. But it was even worst after that haircut "made in NYC Chinatown".

Nic

marcs · Post by **marcs** » Fri Aug 07, 2020 2:17 pm

jal wrote:Try Back to Burgundy on Amazon Prime; semi autobiographical based on Jean Marc Roulot (who contributed on the script) the White Burgundy superstar. I liked it well enough but thought it was very predictable and all the conflicts could be solved with some minimal conversation between the protagonists.

I saw this the other night and loved it. It might have been predictable but in the same way that life is predictable and unpredictable at the same time. Perhaps the best wine drama (as opposed to comedy) I've ever seen. Also immerses you physically into the Burgundy landscape in a very specific and detailed way (i.e. way beyond just generic "shots of vines") that I haven't seen done before in a movie.

AKR · Post by **AKR** » Thu Aug 13, 2020 8:44 pm

marcs wrote:
jal wrote:Try Back to Burgundy on Amazon Prime; semi autobiographical based on Jean Marc Roulot (who contributed on the script) the White Burgundy superstar. I liked it well enough but thought it was very predictable and all the conflicts could be solved with some minimal conversation between the protagonists.

I saw this the other night and loved it. It might have been predictable but in the same way that life is predictable and unpredictable at the same time. Perhaps the best wine drama (as opposed to comedy) I've ever seen. Also immerses you physically into the Burgundy landscape in a very specific and detailed way (i.e. way beyond just generic "shots of vines") that I haven't seen done before in a movie.

I watched BtB last night on Amazon Prime too. It was pretty good, and if predictable, it was still well crafted, and seemed to incorporate the Burgundy/wine details well into a typical Hallmark Christmas Movie plot. They had a good use of off camera people/characters sort of like a Greek play.

My other observation is how painful French death taxes are, as they seem to wreck a lot of estates, and force them into corporate ownership (immune to death duties as perpetual entities) which then seems to lead more consultant/internationalist styles of winemaking as MBA's have to justify paying a market rate for the land.

Chateau Vin · Post by **Chateau Vin** » Thu Aug 13, 2020 9:00 pm

AKR wrote: .
.

My other observation is how painful French death taxes are, as they seem to wreck a lot of estates, and force them into corporate ownership (immune to death duties as perpetual entities) which then seems to lead more consultant/internationalist styles of winemaking as MBA's have to justify paying a market rate for the land.

That's exactly I have been wary of, Arv...Thanks for bringing that up.

When I visited bordeaux in 2012, a small estate in Graves emphasized the inheritance taxes (and Alex, mentioned here on this forum too) in France, and how big corporations are taking over both big and small name chateaux. The corporations don't need to pay any death/inheritance taxes, and they reap all the benefits as long as the business entity exists. I feel very bad for the chateaux owners who had to sell their estates because of this tax scheme. If French pride themselves on being local and family business oriented, I wonder why government is not changing tax laws so that chateaux owners can keep doing what they love...

More chateaux owners, more heterogeneity in bordeaux styles...

robert goulet · Post by **robert goulet** » Fri Aug 14, 2020 11:08 am

JimHow wrote:A lot of the action in that movie was going on when we had the NYC 2003 convention and first met John Kapon and Rudy and some of the others, according to the movie Rudy had an immigration warrant for his arrest out at the time he was with us at the convention. Does anybody have any pictures of that convention?
According to the internet Rudy's release date is November 2020 but he must be out by now with good time, no?
Has he been deported away?

Maureen really does quite an amazing job in that movie.

A few yrs back Maureen was heading up her own wine fraud seminar, teaching willing participants how to identify fraudulent bottles. We spoke and I was interested but, the tariff was a bit too high to justify. Seemed interesting, not sure how it all went for her regarding turn out. She almost lost her home in those crazy California wildfires a couple yrs back. She had to evacuate and believed all was lost. Somehow, thankfully, her house was spared.

Regarding Sour grapes...I believe Kapon knew, though I am not sure to what extent. Did Rudy tell him or was he just able to figure it out and played along. I lobbied and helped assist on having Kapons tasting notes hidden on Cellar Tracker. You have to opt in to read them now... not sure how to even do that honestly. My beef was that Kapon was listed as an expert taster on CT (Expert taster? Huh?) and felt many of his provocative notes were derived from suspect wines which is deceptive to the reader/consumer. It caused a bit of a ruffle with CT founder Eric Levine. Eric is def.no big fan of Goulet by any means, he does not seem to handle any type of constructive criticism with grace. In the end we wore him down. He did it to shut us up. Interesting fact, I guess Eric's wife was an ambassador for Obama (Swiss?) and they spent time living in a chalet overseas. A charmed life no doubt.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Fri Aug 14, 2020 11:29 am

Yeah, my guard went up the moment I met him. I’m not sure how that whole Kapon/Rudy crowd got wind of our 2003 NYC convention, whether it was through our Zachy’s crowd or whether it was through Ben Whuzzup__ Nelson, who had reached out to Burghound, who attended both our 2003 NYC and 2004 Chicago conventions. I think HDH got sued by Koch as well, no? It was a sleazy crowd. Not a fan of the cellar tracker guy either. The wine world brings out arrogance and sleaze and I’m glad BWE went in a different direction after 2003/04. We were getting big — over a thousand posts per day, even HWSRN recognized us in one of his books as “one of the best wine web sites on the internet” — but bigger is not necessarily better.

Musigny 151 · Post by **Musigny 151** » Fri Aug 14, 2020 11:32 am

Let’s begin with the fact that at least three and probably closer to five years before the Ponsot auction, there were rumblings about Rudy’s wines. I was on the periphery, and knew enough to stay away, Kapon was in the auction scene, front and center, Rudy owed him a ton of money, but was still able to sell wine. My guess is that Kapon had no definitive proof, plausible deniability, decided to auction the wines.It was a gamble that paid off. He is still at Acker. I am one of the people who do not buy from them, unless I absolutely need a bottle for a tasting that only Acker has, which amounts to three or four bottles over nearly twenty years.

I don’t think much of Kapon’s notes; as well as the yak palate, you have figure his level of inebriation while writing them. Eric has done the wine community a great service. I would also be reluctant to take Kapon’s notes, but then there are plenty of people on CT with suspect palates, so in the interest of consistency, they should not have been excluded. Perhaps they should come with a warning.

AKR · Post by **AKR** » Fri Aug 14, 2020 6:37 pm

Cellar Tracker is a lovely resource, but obviously one can't read too much into any one person's TN when you don't know them, nor their experience/clue etc.

And one thing - just because people are friends and get along - doesn't mean that palates will align either. I find my taste preferences are quite different than so many of you here! I was going to say something about that in the 'whites ex Burgundy' thread, but maybe over the weekend, I'll expound/expand.

I think there are a ton more Rudys out there.

DavidG · Post by **DavidG** » Sat Aug 15, 2020 12:16 am

Jim, I don’t think HDH has ever been implicated, directly or indirectly or even by rumor, in having sold or auctioned counterfeit wines. Happy to be corrected if I’ve missed something, and "never" is a strong word, but as far as I know HDH has been one of the good guys.

robert goulet · Post by **robert goulet** » Sat Aug 15, 2020 8:43 am

JimHow wrote:Yeah, my guard went up the moment I met him. I’m not sure how that whole Kapon/Rudy crowd got wind of our 2003 NYC convention, whether it was through our Zachy’s crowd or whether it was through Ben Whuzzup__ Nelson, who had reached out to Burghound, who attended both our 2003 NYC and 2004 Chicago conventions. I think HDH got sued by Koch as well, no? It was a sleazy crowd. Not a fan of the cellar tracker guy either. The wine world brings out arrogance and sleaze and I’m glad BWE went in a different direction after 2003/04. We were getting big — over a thousand posts per day, even HWSRN recognized us in one of his books as “one of the best wine web sites on the internet” — but bigger is not necessarily better.

I can see it now ...Lewiston's finest, big time Jim Howaniec stolling into the convention w/ an entourage 12 deep, circa '03, the doors briskly pushed open, a soft breeze whistling thru his lightly salt and pepper hair. He's sporting a Mink coat, Prada shades and a felt Fedora hat ever so slightly tilted...in his right hand clutches an '89 Lynch Bages and his left hand firmly secures his latest mystery novel with a kung fu grip. Lights are flashing and sounds of Dom corks popping in the background as Don't Stop Believing pumps from the speakers....then all at once all movement stops and all sound is halted as the BWE convention fiendishly awaits the Benevolent dictators opening words..a zoom in on Jim face as he opens his mouth and it's like his lips and words were moving in synchronized slow motion as the line, "Where's the moon pies bitches?" is ejected out.. the entire BWE crowd roars with euphoria....ahhh those were the days Jim!!