Kurniawan lawyers seek to omit FBI evidence

Alleged wine fraudster Rudy Kurniawan’s defense lawyers have asked US federal district judge Richard Berman to omit evidence obtained in an FBI search of Kurniawan's LA home due to issues over the legality of the search. As reported on db.com, Kurniawan is working to have evidence of an elaborate laboratory for counterfeit wines in his home excluded from his trial.

His lawyers are to contest the legality of an FBI search of his LA home after his arrest in a Los Angeles suburb in March. Kurniawan appeared at a brief hearing in a Manhattan federal courtroom last week wearing khaki prison clothing and midnight blue tennis shoes, the Wine Spectator reports.

At the hearing, Berman set a schedule for filings by the two sides, which will culminate on 14 November in the defense's expected motion to suppress the results of the FBI's search. During the search, agents found a home laboratory filled with thousands of fake labels dating back to 1899, including all the Bordeaux first growths and fine Burgundies such as Domaine Ponsot.

The operation was fitted out with hundreds of used corks, foil capsules and hardened wax which, when heated, could seal the mouths of bottles. There were also hundreds of rubber stamps for vintage dates, ranging from Château Latour 1899 to Screaming Eagle 1992, and stencils to imprint the names of famous wine estates on wooden cases.

According to a source close to the defense, FBI agents had an arrest warrant but not a search warrant when they entered Kurniawan’s home on 8 March. "It's one thing if you search a person, or a car, but a person's home is sacrosanct. If our motion is granted, and evidence is suppressed, it's a different case,” the source told the Wine Spectator.

"Our motion is being made to ensure that the Constitution is being honored in the letter and spirit in this case. Other than that, we will let our court papers do the talking,” Kurniawan's lead attorney Michael Proctor said of suppressing the search. Kurniawan is being held without bail at a Brooklyn federal detention facility.

Hedonism Wines

Tomorrow a temple of fine wine opens in London. The Russian-owned Hedonism Wines in Mayfair boasts various vintages of all of the five first growths, along with Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Super Tuscans Sassicaia and Ornellaia, Screaming Eagle, Pétrus, Le Pin and many other of the finest wines available to humanity.

Run by Alistair Viner, Harrods' ex head wine buyer, the most expensive single bottle on sale is Château d'Yquem 1811 at an eye-watering £100,000.  I was lucky enough to be invited to the press launch on Monday night. Descending into the cavernous basement, on catching sight of the giant large format bottles on display, from Domaine de Chevalier Blanc 2000 to Château Pichon Baron Longueville 2005, I felt like Alice in Wonderland after she'd imbibed the 'Drink Me' shrinking potion. Hedonism is more Ferrari showroom than fine wine mecca.   

Turning a corner, I stumble across a Surrealist cave filled with sinister hands, from Mickey Mouse gloves to lobster claws gripping the bottles in a scene straight out of a Salvador Dalí and André Breton film, with a little Labyrinth and David Lynch thrown in for good measure. Taking another turn into the unknown, I enter what looks like a forest filled with wine bottles taken captive in the corkscrew-like twisted branches.

Stopping to drink in the curious mise-en-scène, I hear a squeak and watch one of the bottles move of its own accord. It's all very Lord of the Rings – I half expect Frodo Baggins to come bounding in barefoot. Though most of the liquid treasures remain unaffordable to mere mortals, Hedonism is worth a visit for the experience alone. With so many iconic bottles on show – their lusted after labels naked and exposed – it's a wine lover's delight. Go forth and drool...

Calon-Ségur sold… apparently

Bordeaux third-growth Calon-Ségur is rumored to have been sold for an estimated £135 million. As reported on db.com, Pétrus owner Jean-Francois Moueix is alleged to have been involved with the sale, though a spokesperson at Duclot, the négociant house owned by Moueix, was unable to confirm his involvement to the drinks business. Pétrus ambassador Elizabeth Jaubert was also unable to confirm the sale, telling the drinks business: “This is the first I have heard of it.”

Calon-Ségur's current owners were also unable to verify that an acquisition had taken place. The purchase would include 95 hectares in Saint-Estèphe, encompassing Calon-Ségur, second label Marquis de Calon and cru bourgeois Capbern-Gasqueton. Calon-Ségur’s future has been in the balance since the death of owner Denise Capbern-Gasqueton last September at the age of 87. Gasqueton ran the estate, which has been owned by the Gasqueton family since 1894, after the death of her husband in 1995.

According to The Wine Spectator, several sources claim that the long-anticipated transaction is well underway and that Jean-Francois Moueix has brought in an investor. When Château Montrose’s then-owner, Jean-Louis Charmolüe, decided to sell in 2006, Moueix brought in billionaires Martin and Olivier Bouygues. At the time, Jean-Francois and his brother, Christian Moueix, owner of Château La Fleur-Pétrus, acquired minority stakes in Montrose. In July 2010 Jean-Francois bought out another minority shareholder for £1.6m.

There has not been any indication as to whether Moueix has acquired a stake in Calon-Ségur himself. The estate has passed through several owners, including Nicolas-Alexandre, Marquis de Ségur, who aslo owned Château Laftie and Château Latour at the time. Its signature heart-shaped label is a lasting reminder of the Marquis’ famous quote: "I make my wine at Lafite and Latour, but my heart is in Calon." One of the original three vineyards of Saint-Estèphe, in the early 19^th century, Château Montrose was a forestland parcel belonging to Calon-Ségur.

Top 10 wine and spirits tattoos

Last week I wrote a feature on the top ten wine and spirits tattoos on thedrinksbusiness.com that captured the imagination of our readers, receiving over 17,000 hits in 24 hours. Click on this link for a round up of some of the most impressive wine and spirits-inspired body art, from the Bacardi bat and The Kraken squid to the Ravenswood emblem via a dodgy tribute to the German village of Assmannshausen... I ink therefore I am.

Salon '99 launched with fish 'n' chips

Salon is one of those mythical wines like Pétrus and Yquem that you usually only ever hear about other people drinking. But I got lucky last week. My editor was unable to attend the launch lunch for Salon '99, so I gallantly stepped in in his place.

Rather than a swanky, seven-course do, Corney & Barrow rather stylishly opted to host the lunch at trendy fish 'n' chip restaurant Geales in Notting Hill. I'd often heard about the brilliance of Champagne and fish 'n' chips – The Wine Society staff swear by the ritual every Friday, so was keen to try the pairing out for size.

Based in the village of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, known for its chalk-rich soils, Salon, made from a single cru and a single grape; Chardonnay, is only released in exceptional years – just 37 vintages have been released since it was founded in 1905. The Blanc de Blancs spends 10 years ageing on the lees before disgorgment.

Salon president, the dapper, debonair Didier Depond*, introduced the wine, quipping that it was the first time he'd ever tried Salon with fish 'n' chips: “1999 was an exceptional vintage, and the resulting wine is naturally sophisticated and rich in flavour, but it’s difficult to judge its character at the moment, as it’s still only a teenager." Having already compared 1997 to Audrey Hepburn for its femininity and grace, I push Depond for a '99 comparison. "It would be a pretty boy actor, like Brad Pitt. It’s unmistakably masculine, but also beautiful and elegant."

Bottled in 2000, the '99 vintage will be disgorged in batches of 2,000 every six months. Only 50,000 bottles will be produced. Vinification is entirely in stainless steel, and there is no malolactic fermentation. The dosage is a bone-dry five grams per litre of residual sugar.

Speaking with Depond, he tells me Salon is becoming more and more of a collectors' item, and is enjoying considerable success at auction. "People are going mad for the magnums, because it’s the best size for ageing Champagne, and we only release a very small amount of them. The older vintages are selling at crazy levels in Hong Kong, London and Paris.” Salon jumped 20 places from 46 to 26 in the Liv-ex Power 100 chart last year, coming in just two places behind Krug.

So what of the combination? I thought it worked incredibly well with the battered haddock, cutting through the fat with its zesty freshness. Pale gold in colour, with small, ebullient bubbles, it had an intense citrus nose, almost like lemon drops, with accompanying notes of white flower, white fruit, and bitter almond. Light and refreshing and yet steely and direct on the palate, it had youthful lift, assured elegance and underlying purity. Contrary to Depond, I found it feminine, fragrant and perfumed – perhaps more of a Grace Kelly than a Brad Pitt.

A half case of Salon 1999 will be available through Corney & Barrow for £950 from mid-May.

*Picture of Didier Depond courtesy of Jamie Goode