Here is an off-kilt news story that we heard on the radio earlier today.

After listening to it, we thought that we’d investigate it a little more.

A wine dealer, based in California, has been found guilty of ‘wine fraud’ and is set for sentencing in the immediate future.

The man in question, Rudy Kurniawan, 37, was convicted last December after it was uncovered that he had been successfully passing wine made in his kitchen off as a rare vintage, and had been profiteering from his illegal activities.

Originally arrested in 2012, the Indonesian-born resident of Arcadia, California, sold something like £12m’s worth of fake wine.

Prosecutors say that Mr Kurniawan “flaunted [his] wealth with extravagant purchases of authentic wine, luxury cars, a Beverly Hills mansion, flights on private jets…and much more.”

The Indonesian nation, it transpires, initially built up a reputation as somebody who had access to hard-to-find wines.

But when federal investigators popped over, they found that his fine wine collection was manufactured in his kitchen.

The FBI discovered that there was a drawer full of fake labels and foil wrappers had been used to cover corks. In his home he would mix together cheaper wines to mimic the flavours and characteristics of very expensive bottles.

Whilst Mr Kurniawan’s actions are at the high-end of the market, and are clearly the exception rather than the norm, just how common is wine fraud?

Widespread?

Luckily for those in the catering trade it isn’t widespread, but reports from the Intellectual Property Office earlier this year did warn independent shopkeepers about the risk of ‘fake’ wines.

One local council even started a campaign to alert the public about illegally sold alcohol, and raise awareness about the practice.

But, back onto the finer side of the industry.

Expensive

Did you know that one of the most expensive bottles of white wine ever sold fetched nearly £59,000 and is a 1878 Chateau d’Yquem?

That figure though is dwarfed by the £180,000 that one individual forked out to get their hands on a 1947 Cheval Blank. According to Christie’s wine expert, Michael Ganne, this is the only known bottle from that collection that is Imperial rather than Metric, hence its fee.