Call It Rebranding: Notorious Fraudster Rudi Kurniawan Reportedly Finds New Use for His Infamous Fake Wines After 7 Years in Prison

Infamous wine fraudster Rudy Kurniawan poses with Fred Dame, a Master Sommelier who was stripped of that title after sexual misconduct allegations. Dame was accused of groping female sommeliers at a wine event. (Photo: Rudy Kurniawan Is Free/Instagram)

Rudy Kurniawan is rebranding — or so it seems. On Monday, Wine-Searcher reported that the convicted wine fraudster is re-entering the wine world and appeared at at least two wine dinners in Singapore. This time, it appears Kurniawan has gone legit and is offering attendees the opportunity to taste his counterfeit wines alongside their — allegedly — very real counterparts.

Kurniawan rose to infamy after selling millions of dollars worth of fake wine to many of the world’s wealthiest, including Bill Koch, according to Bloomberg.  Wine Enthusiast reports that Kurniawan wove his way into elite wine circles and established himself within the auction circuit as a purveyor of rare “unicorn wines” such as an ultra-rare vintage of 1945 Domaine Romanée-Conti and a 1950 Château Lafleur. Buyers spent thousands of dollars on these rare vintages, which turned out to be fake.

“In the early days, when he was buying a lot of wine, he was buying real wine and he was opening real wine and he was selling real wine,” journalist Peter Hellman said in an interview with Wine Enthusiast. “… the simple fact is those wines — 1950 Château Lafleur, 1945 Romanée-Conti — whatever tiny trickle he was able to buy, dried up. When he realized he couldn’t buy wines for any amount of money he said to himself, ‘Well gee, my palate is good. I could make this wine!”

Criminal enterprising aside, the truth is Kurniawan has a gift. This time it appears he’s using his talents — and palate — for good.

“The overall impression is that people prefer Rudy’s wines, because they’re fresher,” claimed wine fraud expert Maureen Downey, according to Wine-Searcher.

In December 2013, Kurniawan was found guilty of multiple charges of wine fraud: producing fake wine, selling it for $1.3M from 2004 to 2012, and wire fraud using the counterfeit wines to secure a loan of $3M.

Kurniawan was sentenced to 10 years in prison but was released in November 2020 prior to being deported to Indonesia in April 2021.

In 2016, Kurniawan’s fame reached new heights when Netflix released a documentary chronicling his misadventures titled “Sour Grapes.”

It appears the documentary has significantly contributed to the convicted fraudster’s ability to rebrand after prison life — because infamy is weird like that.

Downy expressed her consternation to the Drinks Business and claimed that Kurniawan’s celebrity-like presence is very much in demand in some circles, and, ironically enough, his fake wines.

“People are paying for his company,” Downy mused. “They’re also paying him to counterfeit wine.”

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