Watch the 'Sherlock Holmes of Wine' explain how to spot a counterfeit bottle
As Notorious B.I.G once said, with more money comes more problems.
This holds very true for those wealthy enough to possess cellars full of fine wines. As it turns out, there's a chance that that '82 Petrus you dropped thousands on is actually a fake.
"Wine fraud is not new," Maureen Downey tells Bloomberg Business. As a wine fraud investigator, Downey spots counterfeit wines for a living — a job she has so meticulously honed that she earned the nickname "The Sherlock Holmes of Wine." Downey's craft is extremely particular, requiring her to examine wine labels with magnifying glasses and blue lights in order to determine if a bottle is a counterfeit.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"You have to have looked at tens of millions of dollars of real wine to be able to spot a fake," she says. "It can be really brutal to tell a client that they've got fake wine, so I kind of have to treat it like taking a Band-Aid off." Watch Downey explain her craft in the video below. —Samantha Rollins
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Samantha Rollins is TheWeek.com's news editor. She has previously worked for The New York Times and TIME and is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.
-
5 inflammatory cartoons on the L.A. wildfires
Cartoons Artists take on climate change denial, the blame game, and more
By The Week US Published
-
The problems with the current social care system
The Explainer The question of how to pay for adult social care is perhaps the greatest unresolved policy issue of our time
By The Week UK Published
-
Austria's new government: poised to join Putin's gang
Talking Point Opening for far-right Freedom Party would be a step towards 'the Putinisation of central Europe'
By The Week UK Published
-
Honda and Nissan in merger talks
Speed Read The companies are currently Japan's second and third-biggest automakers, respectively
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Taylor Swift wraps up record-shattering Eras tour
Speed Read The pop star finally ended her long-running tour in Vancouver, Canada
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Drake claims illegal boosting, defamation
Speed Read The rapper accused Universal Music of boosting Kendrick Lamar's diss track and said UMG allowed him to be falsely accused of pedophilia
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
'Wicked' and 'Gladiator II' ignite holiday box office
Speed Read The combination of the two movies revitalized a struggling box office
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Jussie Smollet conviction overturned on appeal
Speed Read The Illinois Supreme Court overturned the actor's conviction on charges of staging a racist and homophobic attack against himself in 2019
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Quincy Jones, music icon, is dead at 91
Speed Read The legendary producer is perhaps best known as the architect behind Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
OJ Simpson, star athlete tried for murder, dead at 76
Speed Read The former football hero and murder suspect lost his battle with cancer
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Momofuku's 'Chili Crunch' trademark uproar
Speed Read The company's attempt to own the sole rights has prompted backlash
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published