Sour Grapes (2016) Reviews

• Schadenfreude

  tributarystu2016-11-06

  I don't even drink wine, so my understanding of the collector's impulse is bound to be limited. Nonetheless, the themes flowing through Sour Grapes, smoothly prepped in the movie equivalent of a decanter, provide a certain sparkle on the tongue, a deeply flavoured experience with a tinge of Schadenfreude. The latter is essential, as it frames the human impulse behind what is ultimately no more than an astute con. There's a palpable story at the roots of this documentary: Rudy Kurniawan, a skinny, wise-beyond-his-years kind of fellow, appears on the international wine auctioning scene in the early/mid 2000s and becomes a big player at an impressive pace. If there's one thing that's universally known about the early/mid 2000s, it's that they preceded the latter 2000s - hah, just kidding! But not really, for the decade started with the fake excess of the dot-com bubble and then flourished in the fake excess of the housing market bubble. Per chance (or not), Kurniawan's trajectory does well to parallel these cautionary tales, only that its conclusion is brisk and there were few tears shed about the victims. As one usually does, when it comes to the rich losing out in their Bateman-esque games of self-affirmation and chest thumping. The fascinating bit lies in the possibility of a fraud existing in a world so tightly strung by expert knowledge. A wine connoisseur has a special kind of fame attached to his or her ability to discern the exceptional from the good. It's something acquired through years of sophisticated training and a lot of expensive wines. Additionally, as important sums of money are thrown around, it is also the kind of area ripe for pretense. Similarly to, perhaps, the market for art collectors, there will always be people who understand art, historically and aesthetically, and those who collect it for the sheer exercise, be it financial or egotistical. The same applies to wines. It's in this contrast that Sour Grapes comes alive. The story is told through a limited collection of archival footage of Kurniawan and present day interviews with people in the business: collectors, sommeliers, wine producers. It paints this canvas of wine as an ultimately simple and beautiful experience, pandering somewhat to Domain Ponsot's lavishly poetic narrative. Lavish to the point of being hypocritical, even. And it also frames Kurniawan as this endearing character, much liked by those who bought his wines. There's surprisingly little sourness to the movie, especially for so much money being involved. Yet, that also plays into this idea of the exclusive wine club, where people are so enlightened (and rich), that they can look beyond trifling deceptions worth millions. So perhaps that's part of what I didn't quite like, the neatness of it all, the lack of further prodding. You also get a sense there's a template for these meta-documentaries, where a deeply ironic situation is framed with lyrical prowess, only to sustain some unnecessary ambiguity about its central character(s). Kurniawan is guilty and a bunch of people were defrauded, even if he might have had to bear the brunt of it. But there's also a certain beauty to being caught in such a great deception, because the contrast is so stark. The story sells itself, so the point of the movie was to somehow capture it with the limited footage it had of its lead. Atlas and Rothwell came good and they also managed to leave any sardonic undertones as just that, undertones. Ultimately, even for someone with no taste for wine, I was excited by the end, having sat through this very particular tasting menu of intricate lies. The thought that nothing is quite black and white lingers in the knowledge that thousands of Kurniawan wine bottles are still in wine cellars around the world. Some real, some fake - and the afterthought that one might not really want to know the truth.

• At the end of every (not-so-hard) day, people find some reason to believe

  paul2001sw-12017-01-13

  The fine wine market is a very peculiar one. Firstly, fine wine is arguably an acquired taste: many people can't tell that good wine is good. You could say that people learn, but you could also say that an elite group have unilaterally determined what fine wine actually is through the simple expedient of being prepared to spend large sums of money on it. Secondly, there's a lot of ritual involved in wine drinking, and those who can wine connoisseurs would actually be very unhappy if fine wine could be bought cheaply, even if it allowed them to drink it more often: a wine bottle is definitely a fetish object, not just the container for some fermented grape juice. And finally, the supply of old wines is finite. If enough rich people want to own (and drink) them as status objects, there's almost no limit to how high the price for a bottle could go. Rudy Kurniawan appeared in the US wine collectors' market in the early 21st century. Apparently a rich kid with a fantastic palate (i.e. he could spot the same differences in taste of the most renowned experts), he soon developed a reputation as a devoted collector of the rarest wines. He was generous in sharing these with his friends (mostly fellow collectors), but he actually bought so much wine that they didn't benefit from his presence overall – the market itself moved under his influence. And when he started to sell from his cellar, you might have wondered if he wasn't just a naive enthusiast overpaying for his hobby, but actually someone smart (and brave) enough to hope to generate (through buying) an enthusiasm for rare wines that could outlast his subsequent selling, the classic technique employed by sellers of penny stocks and many other types of huckster (though it's not necessarily illegal to try and make a market in this way). What is illegal, of course, is putting new wine in old bottles; and in the event, it transpired that this was what "Rudy" (in fact, not his real name) had done. With the aid of his genuinely good sense of taste, and with the backing of relatives belonging to Indonesian organised crime, Rudy was blending wines to match the taste of the most famous (and expensive) vintages. Because he bought so much real wine, he was able to flood the market with fake. Nonetheless, the story of his ten-year goal sentence leaves a slightly sour taste in the mouth: it seems excessive for the harm caused, the crime being to spoil a game played by rich people for little ultimate effect. One can also note that no-one other than the foreigner has been prosecuted for the fraud: its hard to believe there were others who did not suspect and/or collaborate, but it's possible to conclude that the American establishment has ultimately protected its own. Oddly, some of those defrauded are inclined to cut Rudy more slack than perhaps he deserves. In any case, I strongly recommend this intriguing documentary, a perfectly paced tale whose minor subject is wine: it's major subject is what, and why, we choose to believe.

• Brilliant Story

  gavin69422016-12-05

  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. I don't drink wine often, don't particularly care for it, and know next to nothing about collecting it or its value. Despite that, this documentary was fascinating -- the ability to con the best collectors, and the FBI's attempts to track down the con man. It is a great story of crime, as well as a nice tale of pulling one over on rich snobs who might need a good pranking from time to time. Good documentaries are hard to find, but this is one of them. It covers everything it needs to and never lingers for too long. If it hasn't already happened, someone needs to turn this into a feature film.

• As a wine-lover I enjoyed this for two good reasons.

  TxMike2016-12-04

  I had seen this same story a couple of years before, I just don't remember where or what the name of the program is. Rudy Kurniawan, of Asian extraction, was living life large and getting into wines, and he established a very lucrative business selling rare and expensive wines to wealthy connoisseurs and collectors. The problem was, all those wines were fake. Rudy blended cheap wines to approximate the color and character of those rare wines, he made fake labels, properly "aged", and became wealthy with his ruse. He went to trial, with a not-guilty plea, but the evidence was too overwhelming, his "lab", his purchases of special papers for labels, his purchases of used wine bottles, his blending formulas, plus the forensic evidence. Surprising even the prosecutors he was sentenced to 10 years in prison where he currently is, in the California desert. The circumstantial evidence is he had accomplices, there just was no way he could have faked the amount he did without help, it was a time- consuming operation. But no one else has been accused, although it appears some of his family members have also stolen untold millions and fled to foreign countries. Good documentary. I am glad for two reasons, as a wine-lover. It is good to see at least some of the counterfeiters are being caught. But most of all, even though I am a red wine lover, I love to find the excellent wines at excellent prices. Give me a good $12 Cabernet or Zinfandel, those will never be counterfeited because it would make no sense to do so!

• Proof that even rich people can be quite stupid!

  MartinHafer2016-12-21

  "Sour Grapes" is an interesting documentary because it has a lot to say about human nature...particularly about how stupid folks can be...even rich folks! The film begins with the insane craze of the 90s and into the 21st century that sent the prices of the premier wines to the moon. In some cases, wines had gone up ten times...all because folks suddenly thought buying Bordeaux wines was the best...and a way to show off their wealth. Into this atmosphere came Rudy Kurniawan...a wine expert that seemed to have an almost inexhaustible supply of wine to sell to the great auction houses. Not surprisingly, eventually folks started to question his high lifestyle and a French winemaker was justifiably angry when he realized counterfeit wines were being sold with his winery's name on it. Most viewers probably DON'T care too much about spoiled rich folks getting ripped off. However, I enjoyed the film because it was an interesting look at human nature--the greed, the willing stupidity and the insistence by a couple idiots that Rudy STILL is a pretty cool guy!!! It's also interesting, but not the least bit surprising, that Rudy's lawyer made 1001 excuses and minimizations for his client's actions...after all, he IS a defense lawyer. Overall, there's a lot of interesting things here about people...and the realization that wealth and sophistication don't necessarily have much correlation with common sense!