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Fine-wine fraud
偽造的美酒
Chateau Lafake
法國酒莊拉法克紅酒
The fine-wine boom is attracting forgers
美酒追捧熱潮催生造假者
Taste is a delicate thing
味覺一種微妙的東西
WINE buffs are like art collectors.
葡萄酒愛好者與藝術品收藏者相同，
Few can tell the difference between a well-made fake and the real thing.
他們中很少人能分清真品與制作精良的贗品有什么區別。
Yet whereas counterfeit art has been around for centuries, wine forgery is relatively new.
但藝術品偽造已經有幾百年歷史了，酒類偽造卻還只是近幾十年的事。
It started in the late 1970s when the prices of the best wines—especially those from Bordeaux—shot up.
20世紀70年代末期，由于精品美酒尤其來自法國波爾多的葡萄酒價格飆升，名酒偽造應運而生。
Today, with demand from China fuelling a remarkable boom, counterfeiting is rife.
現在，中國對尊貴名酒的需求推動了名酒市場的繁榮,假冒偽劣酒也開始盛行。
By some estimates 5% of fine wines sold at auction or on the secondary market are not what they claim to be on the label.
據估計，拍賣會或二級市場出售的美酒有5%貨不對板。
The simplest technique is to slap the label of a 1982 Chateau Lafite onto a bottle of 1975 Lafite.
偽造名酒最簡單的方法是將1982年產法國酒莊拉法克紅酒的標簽貼到1975年產的拉菲紅酒空瓶上。
Another trick is to bribe the sommelier of a fancy restaurant to pass on empty bottles that once held expensive wine, along with the corks.
另一個伎倆是賄賂高級餐廳的調酒師，將盛裝過昂貴名酒的空瓶和瓶塞一起拿到手，
These can be refilled with cheaper wine, recorked and resealed.
然后將空瓶重新灌裝廉價酒，重新裝塞，重新密封就完成了造假過程。
Empty Lafite and Latour bottles are sold on eBay for several hundred euros.
在eBay網上，Lafite和Latour紅酒的空瓶通常價值幾百歐元。
The margins are fruity.
酒類偽造有可觀的利潤。
A great wine may cost hundreds of times more than a merely excellent one.
一瓶尊貴名酒的價格可能比一瓶單純的優質酒貴上幾百倍。
Small wonder that oenophiles are growing more vigilant.
難怪鑒酒專家們越來越趨于謹慎。
Bill Koch, an energy tycoon and avid wine collector, currently has five lawsuits pending against merchants, auctioneers and other collectors.
能源巨頭比爾.科赫熱衷于名酒收藏，他近來提起5宗涉及酒類的法律訴訟，分別狀告酒商，拍賣師和其余酒類收藏家，案件至今未有裁決。
His grape-related gripes began in 2006, when he filed a complaint against a German wine dealer who sold bottles of Lafite he claimed had once belonged to Thomas Jefferson.
科赫先生對買紅酒的抱怨始于2006年，當時他從一名德國酒商手中購買了很多據稱是托馬斯杰斐遜收藏過的紅酒，后來發現有假而投訴了這名德國酒商，
The case is unresolved.
案子至今未果。
There is a code of silence in the industry, says Mr Koch, who owns 43,000 bottles of wine and estimates that he has spent 4m-5m on fakes.
科赫先生說：業界存在著一套潛規則，即買到假酒也要毫不聲張。 他擁有43000瓶上好葡萄酒，但用于購買假酒的錢估計也在4-5百萬美元左右。
Some collectors are too proud to admit that they have been duped.
有些收藏者覺得承認被騙不是件光彩的事。
Others fear sullying a vintage's reputation and thereby reducing the value of their own collections.
另一些則擔心玷污了葡萄酒的聲譽會降低自己擁有葡萄酒的收藏價值。
So instead of speaking out, they dump their fakes into auctions or sell them to other private collectors, says Mr Koch.
因此他們不會將事情張揚，而是"將假酒轉手到拍賣會或出售給其它私人收藏者"，科赫先生如是說。
Wine merchants and auction houses say they are doing everything they can to filter out the fakes.
酒商及拍賣行表示他們正盡一切所能篩選出假貨。
Simon Berry, the chairman of Berry Brothers & Rudd, a British wine merchant, says his firm never buys wines from before 2000 unless they come from its own cellars.
英國酒商貝瑞兄弟與陸克文主席西蒙貝里稱他的公司從來不購買2000年以前的葡萄酒，除非它們真的來自出產的酒窖。
Christie's, an auctioneer, says all the wines it auctions are inspected three times by different people, using detailed checklists for condition and authenticity.
拍賣商佳士得稱，它拍賣的所有名酒都要經過不同人反復檢驗三次，對他們出具的葡萄酒情況和真實度詳單逐一對比驗證。
Fear of fakery has not stopped the boom.
對偽造名酒的擔憂并沒有阻止名酒的市場繁榮。
But the wines that win the best prices at auction are those whose provenance is certain.
在拍賣會上競得高價的名酒其來源也是真實可靠的。
In May, Christie's sold an impériale of 1961 Latour for $216,000 in Hong Kong.
五月份，佳士得在香港以21.6萬美元拍售了一瓶1961產的impériale葡萄酒，
It came directly from the cellars of Chateau Latour.
它直接來自于產地Chateau Latour的酒窖。
