First published 2008
Benjamin Wallace investigates the mystery surrounding a 1787 Château Lafite Bordeaux that fetched $156,000 at auction. The bottle carried extraordinary provenance claims linking it to Thomas Jefferson. Wallace traces the wine's disputed origins through multiple theories. Did it rest in a Parisian cellar for two centuries? Was it hidden in a Nazi bunker during World War II? Or did it emerge from the basement of an elaborate fraudster? The author follows a cast of wine world characters including a bicycle riding British auctioneer who describes vintages like lovers and an obsessive collector who first discovered the controversial bottle. Wallace peels back layers of the wine trade to expose how authentication works and where it fails. The investigation reveals the lengths people will go to possess rare wines and the profits available to those willing to exploit that desire. This New York Times bestseller exposes what may rank among history's most sophisticated cons.
Genres: history, business, crime, non-fiction, 21st-century, true-crime
Vibes: suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: investigation, mystery
Setting: Bordeaux, Parisian, Nazi Bunker
Period: 1787, World War II
319 pages · Hardcover · Crown Publishers