We brought back the movie night because there are just too many good wine topical and wine adjacent films out there.
With Covid in the rear-view mirror the holiday season was chalk-a-block with parties and so this year the food was much less complicated. We all relaxed, dove into the cuddle-puddle and enjoyed some comfort food while taking in a great flick.
The details
Kerr st. Cafe catered our very casual menu. A very yummy venison chilli accompanied by artisan bread and a chopped salad will be enjoyed prior to and while watching the movie.
Dessert was Dale’s famous chocolate chip cookies! Christian chose a still red to accompany the dinner and a Lambrusco to go with the cookies. Frank brought his popcorn maker…. so that was a bonus!
And now for the movie selection. “Sour Grapes”. A documentary about the fine and rare wine auction market centering around a counterfeiter who befriended the rich and powerful and sold millions of dollars of fraudulent wine through the top auction houses.
The documentary came out 2016 and caused quite a stir.
From The Drinks Business: “But this time “it is being reported that he is recreating ‘fake’ wine for clients that can be tasted next to the real thing, legally.”
Kurniawan was found guilty of multiple counts of wine fraud in December 2013, including making fake wine, which he sold for $1.3m between 2004-2012, and wire fraud for using the fake wines as collateral to secure a loan of US$3m. He is believed to have sold as many as 12,000 bottles of fake fine wine at auction in 2006.
He was sentenced to 10 years in prison in August 2014 by Manhattan US District Judge Richard Berman and ordered to pay US$28.4 million in restitution to his victims, and another US$20 million as part of a forfeiture agreement.
Kurniawan spent seven years in prison but released in November 2020 and immediately taken into the custody of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), before being deported to his native Indonesia in April 2021.