The feds on Monday uncorked their first criminal case of vintage- wine counterfeiting, telling a Manhattan jury that a self-proclaimed Burgundy expert peddled phony French reds to satisfy his own greed.
“He loved living the high life and he loved the attention that came with it — even if it meant defrauding his own friends,” Assistant US Attorney Jason Hernandez said of Rudy Kurniawan in his opening statements.
“He had an unquenchable thirst for luxury cars, designer clothes and the finest food and drink in the world.”
The prosecution’s witnesses are expected to include billionaire Bill Koch, who earlier this year won $12 million in damages from Internet entrepreneur Eric Greenberg after buying counterfeit wine from Greenberg’s cellar, some of which came from Kurniawan.
Koch is also suing Kurniawan in California after purchasing 212 bottles of alleged fakes.
Kurniawan, 37, was busted last year after spending about a decade as one of the country’s leading wine connoisseurs, famed for hosting lavish late-night tasting parties at restaurants, including the since-closed Cru in Greenwich Village.
He also sold scores of cases of what he claimed were highly coveted vintages, including more than $2 million worth to one California collector in 2007.
But the alleged ruse unraveled after that buyer hosted a dinner in late 2007 at which “wine professionals” from a leading auction house said two of the bottles they opened were fakes.
Kurniawan also tried to auction off 97 bottles of purported Burgundy from the famed Domaine Ponsot vineyard in April 2008, but the consignment was withdrawn when the winery said at least 84 bottles were fakes, the feds say.
Hernandez said the bottles were a mix of “low-quality French wines and younger California wines” blended according to recipes Kurniawan concocted.
Kurniawan also allegedly blocked off the window in his Arcadia, Calif., kitchen so neighbors couldn’t see him soaking off bottle labels.
Defense lawyer Jerome Mooney insisted that Kurniawan had a “great taste palate” for wine, but got duped while desperately trying to fit in with his billionaire clientele.