The Maverick Winemaker

Known for investigating one of the world's most notorious wine frauds, winemaker Laurent Ponsot exposes all in his upcoming book and sheds light on his wine-making style.

- NIMMI MALHOTRA

Laurent Ponsot has enjoyed more than his fair share of the limelight in the wine world. The French winemaker propelled his family’s estate Domaine Ponsot in Burgundy to iconic status while at its helm until 2017. Its 12 Grand Crus — especially those from the hallowed plots of Clos de la Roche and Clos St Denis — line the cellars of well-heeled wine connoisseurs. 

Still, it was a sensational wine scandal that catapulted Ponsot to mainstream fame in 2014. Widely known as the wine world’s Sherlock Holmes, Ponsot tracked down the notorious fraudster Rudy Kurniawan for counterfeiting his wines.

Today, Ponsot is months away from publishing his tell-all, Fake Bottle Investigations, which launches globally in October. Both in English and French, the book reveals previously untold information about Kurniawan and the nefarious world of wine counterfeiting. 

Speaking to The Peak on a recent visit to Singapore to launch the latest vintage of his eponymous wine label, he says of his upcoming exposé: “Everything I could not tell the tribunal because I did not get enough evidence is in the book.” 

It all started in 2008, when 90 bottles of wines, including Clos St Denis 1945, were listed in the auction catalogue of wine auctioneers Acker Marrel Condit. They were valued at over US$500,000 (S$665,000), but the auction lot was fake as the domain did not produce any Grand Crus until 1982. 

Ponsot hurriedly flew to New York to stop the auction and, over the next five years, tirelessly pursued Kurniawan, leading to the conviction of the smooth-talking Indonesian by a United States Federal court in 2014. Kurniawan was sentenced to 10 years in jail.