Pandora's Bottle: How Fraud Threatens Bordeaux's Noblest Industry, and How the Wine Business Can Fight the Counterfeiters

This thesis investigates the proliferation of counterfeit bottles of high-end wine of older vintages, and the efforts of collectors and auction houses/resellers to protect themselves against fraud. I attempt to explain why Bordeaux wines have become such a ripe target for counterfeiters. The main factors are the Bordelais wine trading system (making it difficult to track wines as it is sold), the wine critics for having popularized the Bordeaux wine region, and resellers not being diligent enough in exploring or revealing provenance. This thesis then offers solutions to make the market more transparent and more secure. With the wider adoption of cutting edge authentication methods, there is reason to be optimistic that counterfeit wines can be ebbed.