Product Description: It was the most expensive bottle of wine ever sold.
In 1985, at a heated auction by Christie’s of London, a 1787 bottle of Château Lafite Bordeaux—one of a cache of bottles unearthed in a bricked-up Paris cellar and supposedly owned by Thomas Jefferson—went for $156,000 to a member of the Forbes family. The discoverer of the bottle was pop-band manager turned wine collector Hardy Rodenstock, who had a knack for finding extremely old and exquisite wines. But rumors about the bottle soon arose. Why wouldn’t Rodenstock reveal the exact location where it had been found? Was it part of a smuggled Nazi hoard? Or did his reticence conceal an even darker secret?
It would take more than two decades for those questions to be answered and involve a gallery of intriguing players—among them Michael Broadbent, the bicycle-riding British auctioneer who speaks of wines as if they are women and staked his reputation on the record-setting sale; Serena Sutcliffe, Broadbent’s elegant archrival, whose palate is covered by a hefty insurance policy; and Bill Koch, the extravagant Florida tycoon bent on exposing the truth about Rodenstock.
Pursuing the story from Monticello to London to Zurich to Munich and beyond, Benjamin Wallace also offers a mesmerizing history of wine, complete with vivid accounts of subterranean European laboratories where old vintages are dated and of Jefferson’s colorful, wine-soaked days in France, where he literally drank up the culture.
Suspenseful, witty, and thrillingly strange, The Billionaire’s Vinegar is the vintage tale of what could be the most elaborate con since the Hitler diaries. It is also the debut of an exceptionally powerful new voice in narrative non-fiction.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Lost in our Pursuits
The author does a nice job with this book. With the exception of a moderately tedious middle section and somewhat abrupt ending, The Billionaire's Vinegar is well-written and well-researched. For decades, ... Read More
Rating: - Interesting story and good writing, but it runs out of gas
I am a big fan of wine and a big fan of antiques, so I read this book with great anticipation. I really enjoyed this book for about two thirds its length. After that, I think it really lost its steam. The ... Read More
Rating: - Great gift for wine and history lovers!
bought this as a gift for my dad and he said that it is pretty interesting but it can get kinda dry at times. but the storyline and the insight on wine in history is what made him want to keep going and get kinda ... Read More
Rating: - a great read
Compelling and well-written. Gives great insight into the wine auction market and wine collecting. Save yourself some money and read this book before you bid in an auction for old wine.
Rating: - Fantastic story, entertaining and informative
This is an enthralling story of a world few people have the privilege of getting mixed up in. It begins with one extraordinarily expensive and rare bottle of wine and turns into an international mystery with all sorts ... Read More
- a great read