What it Takes to Out-Sleuth A Wine Fraud with Linda Lee Kane

In my book, “Death on the Vine,” I discuss the magnitude of wine counterfeiting. On April 7, 2018 I received my copy of The Wall Street Journal and came upon an article directly dealing with what my book is all about except for the murder, romance, and roses. Just a few weeks ago the French police discovered a large cache of fake Cotes du Rhone wine…but it was all fake. It was bulk stuff of no particular distinction, and the CEO of the company was charged with fraud. This was just the latest in a long series of such discoveries in recent years, and further proof that counterfeiters target cheap wines just as readily as grand crus.

The name Domaine Ponsot will ring a bell with those who follow wine-fraud news. In a story made famous by the documentary ‘Sour Grapes’ the domain’s proprietor, Laurent Ponsot, attend a 2008 wine auction in New York where fake bottles of Ponsot wines were offered for sale. The consignor was Rudy Kurniawan, a high-profile collector from California.

An investigation into Mr. Kuriawan’s dealings culminated in a search of his Arcadia, California home, which turned out to be filled with the tools of wine fakery: counterfeit labels, blank corks and empty bottles to be filled. Mr. Kurniawan went on trial in New York for Counterfeiting and was convicted in 2014. He was ordered to pay 28.4 million in restitution to seven of his victims and to forfeit 20 million in property, and is serving a 10-year sentence in federal prison.

If you want to learn more about authenticating the wine you’re buying, check out my book and have an unforgettable read and a glass of wine on me.

Author Linda Lee Kane

Linda L. Kane MA in Education, PPS, School Psychologist, and Learning Disability Specialist, is the author of Death on the Vine, Chilled to the Bones and The Black Madonna. She lives with her husband, three dogs, one bird, and eight horses in California. 

The sky is bigger, the ground harder, the freshly grown produce amazing, and the people diversified where I live in sunny, make it very sunny, Fresno, California.

                We moved here with little to no expectations except to move back to our hometown of Huntington Beach within 5 years. Thirty-nine years later we have grown to love our home in the San Joaquin Valley, the people, and the opportunities that were afforded us. I was able to receive a masters’ degree and work at a local college.

                Today I write and edit, paint, play with my two grandchildren, my three dogs, ride my Saddlebred horses and drive my Hackney pony and enjoy life to the fullest.

Linda Lee Kane on the web:

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Death on the Vine

Just before high school graduation, Daisy Murphy returns home from a football game and finds her mother standing over her abusive boyfriend’s body—holding a bloody hammer. In the aftermath, Daisy flees her home and eventually establishes a new life as an expert winemaker in the Central Valley of California. But as hard as she tries to get away from her past, the effects of that horrible night travel with her. 

Detective Jake Frisco has unearthed a murder at the vineyard where Daisy is employed as the winery’s expert winemaker. It doesn’t take long to discover that Daisy is haunted by her past and carries a heavy burden. It seems that possible involvement in an unsolved murder is part of her life’s baggage. Does this put Daisy at the top of the suspect’s list? Can he put aside his growing feelings for her and follow the leads in the case, even if they take him straight to her as the murderer?

Can Daisy finally face her past and trust that the truth she offers the Detective will be enough to save her? Will she find the courage to ask for a future beyond the sorrow of her youth—a future filled with love and self-worth?

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