The Billionaire’s Vinegar

Is any bottle of wine worth $156,000? Would it matter whether the wine was still drinkable? Or is its mere historical importance sufficient for such a price?

While pondering those questions, you might want to read a new book that addresses those issues. The Billionaire’s Vinegar by Benjamin Wallace is published Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House. The Billionaire’s Vinegar is a new hardcover, with 304 pages and twenty chapters.

A cache of eighteenth century wines, allegedly owned by Thomas Jefferson, were supposedly found in a cellar in Paris. But were they authentic? Were they actually owned by Jefferson? This book explores the history and controversy behind this intriguing mystery.

It is a fascinating story with colorful characters. The story covers many matters, such as a history of Jefferson and his wines and an auction of one of the bottles, an auction that created a record sale for a single bottle of wine. The colorful characters include individuals such as Michael Broadbent, wine expert and auctioneer, Marvin Shanken, publisher of Wine Spectator, Malcolm Forbes, wealthy publisher, and Hardy Rodenstock, the owner of the Jefferson bottles. It also includes such well known personalities as Robert Parker and Jancis Robinson.

Yet it is more than a history book. It also describes an elite culture of wealthy wine aficionados who regularly drink some of the oldest and most expensive wines in the world. This is a realm into which most of us will never participate. These are men who routinely drink wines from the nineteenth century, and sometimes even the eighteenth. It is also a world of one-upmanship, where these wine collectors continually try to top each other.

It is also a book about counterfeit wines, how it is done and how it sometimes can be detected. There is the possibility that some of the biggest names in the wine world may have been fooled by counterfeit wines. Some of their tasting notes may be tainted, based on revieweing counterfeit wines. At the center of the counterfeit allegations stands Hardy Rodenstock. He has been accused of selling numerous counterfeits, including the Jeffersonian bottles. Yet he has his defenders as well. What is the truth, are the Jeffersonian wines counterfeit or not?

This was a very enjoyable read, a well written book that held my interest to the very end. A mesmerizing mystery that unfolds and provides a fascinating glimpse into a world few of us inhabit. It also presents a balanced picture of the issues involved. I would recommend this book to all wine lovers or those who just want an interesting read.

One interesting factoid from the book was the mention of a 1980 poll which found that 23% of the wine drank in the U.S. was on the rocks. Wine on ice? Hopefully those numbers have changed by now though I do know a few people who still drink their wine on the rocks.