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| The Billionaire's Vinegar: The Mystery of the World's Most Expensive Bottle of Wine | 
 enlarge | Author: Benjamin Wallace
Publisher: Crown
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $15.36
You Save: $9.59 (38%)
New (47) Used (16) from $11.77
Avg. Customer Rating:  42 reviews
Sales Rank: 1169
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 336
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.3
ISBN: 0307338770
Dewey Decimal Number: 641.2223
EAN: 9780307338778
ASIN: 0307338770
Publication Date: May 13, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Great start, but unsatisfying resolution June 13, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
The first 60% or so of this book was excellent, a real page-turner as others have said. The author does a great job of setting the stage and introducing the characters. The intricacies of ultra-premium wines was explained well, and the characters well drawn and interesting.
My issue came at the mid-point where the story loses focus on its main characters and loses its way for several chapters. Books on reality of course can't always have tidy end-games, but in this case, the tautness of the 3rd quarter didn't live up to the promise of the first three. In the end, very little was revealed or resolved about the motives, methods, and lessons learned about the events of the book. I've read that the movie rights have already been sold; expect a significant re-write of the 3rd act for the film, reality be damned.
Maybe if the author had waited longer or trimmed some of the mid-book tangents, it could have been a 4-star or 5-star taut thriller.
 We need a new TV series: CSI Bordeaux July 14, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
As a wine writer for more than 30 years who knows some of the players mentioned in the book, I enjoyed the way Benjamin Wallace cleverly wove together history, the world of wine and France in particular and the hoax so many bought into. Not only does he chronicle an incredible array of details into understandable context with dexterity, he weaves in a steady thread of humor (Harry Waugh, the English wine merchant and writer, was once asked how often he confused Bordeaux with Burgundy. "Not since lunch," he replied."). The confusion and complicity of some of the world's best-known wine critics and auctioneers comes to light as the hoax unfolds. Some reputations are ruined because of seeming complicity.
One parallel that might have been pursued further: the brilliance of Bill Koch, the billionaire who exposed the fraud, and Thomas Jefferson, whose name was attached to the most expensive bottle of wine ever sold. Both were meticulous in their work and record-keeping. The fact that no records existed at Monticello of the so-called Jefferson bottles should have put the Rodenstock collection into question immediately. Then, with carbon dating and other modern technology, the Koch team exposed the fraud. A tale well told.
Popping The Cork On A Story Too Good To Be True May 20, 2008
2 out of 5 found this review helpful
Talk about catching lightning in a bottle.
In 1985, Christie's of London was the venue for a landmark auction; a 1787 bottle of Chateau Lafite Bordeaux--one, reportedly owned by Thomas Jefferson, was sold for $156,000.
To make this story even more intriguing was this historic bottle being found amongst a number of bottles unearthed in a Paris cellar and the winning bidder was a member of the Forbes family.
But some of the greatest stories are built on a foundation of cheap bricks and cheaper mortar; and, as it turns out, like the alleged bricked-up cellar that the Jefferson bottle was housed.
Author Benjamin Wallace takes the reader on a journey of incredible wealth, rivalries & egos and a discovery that was too good to be true, but still duped so many who desperately wanted something more than white lightning.
This is a world tour of the history of wine, historical figures and the bitter aftertaste when reality actually pops the cork on a grand illusion.
Collector's Book June 9, 2008
2 out of 5 found this review helpful
The author is like one of the wine collectors he writes about who has to have more than the other guy. Wallace includes every fact he comes across, no matter how tangential.
The book goes on and on with vintages and details and minor characters. Then it ends. As gripping as a Wikipedia article.
If you want a "mesmerizing history of wine," this is the book for you. If you want a compelling detective story, well, wait for the movie. Hollywood will strip it down and sex it up, I'm sure.
Good story but about 100 pages long June 20, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Fine book, good start, exciting characters but... it appears the author tried to reach some "magical" page count and therefore mid-way he tells the same story, chapters appear in unrelated sequence, and the conclusion hastily written.
Yes, I recommend this book for wine geeks, history buffs, mystery lovers, but if you can, don't buy it, borrow it from a friend -- to me this is not a "keeper".
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