The Billionaire's Vinegar

Other than romance novels, I do read a bit of non-fiction that can be found in my public library. Nothing too deep, but I like to learn things.

This book first began with an article in the New Yorker, called the Jefferson Bottles. A page turner, this article alone tests the boundaries of my magazine/internet reading ability. Ten pages of continuous clicking, I was hooked and couldn't stop. Imagine my surprise when I discovered at the end of this article that it was actually detailed even more so in a book! I happily looked it up online and yes, it was available at my public library.
The Billionaire's Vinegar: The Mystery of the World's Most Expensive Bottle of Wine, tells the story of how one man was able to swindle most all of the avid wine collectors of the world. The premise of the book begins with a 1985 auction at Christie's where a 1787 Château Lafite Bordeaux was up for auction as having been a part of Thomas Jefferson's illustrious collection of wines. Handled by a mysterious German dealer, Hardy Rodenstock, the bottles were vouched for by Christie's. Previously a pop star manager, Rodenstock had a history of finding impossibly rare bottles to the pleasure of the wine world. No one contested his providences as wines so old rarely tasted like anything beyond vinegar anyway. He essentially messes up when he sells a bottle to a Florida billionaire who decides to begin an investigation into the possibility of these bottles being counterfeit. Wallace leads the reader through decades of deceit and indulgences on his discovery of the legitimacy of the 1787 Lafite. He seemingly has developed relationships with every player in his unraveling of the history of Jefferson, Lafite, and Rodenstock. He summarily is able to soundly describe each person's reasoning and actions.... You sound probably read this book.