Benjamin Wallace's The Billionaire's Vinegar

The Mystery of the World's Most Expensive Bottle of Wine

Dec 20, 2008

Writer Benjamin Wallace's debut work of narrative non-fiction is a suspenseful and superlative peek into the world of rare wine.

Writer Benjamin Wallace in the Billionaire's Vinegar: the mystery of the world's most expensive bottle of wine (Random House, 2008, ISBN 978-0-307-33877-8) takes us on a seductive romp through the high-powered world of rare wine. Full of historical detail and anecdotes, the story unfolds like a cross between a full-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon and suspense-ridden Agatha Christie novel.

Thomas Jefferson's Mysterious Wine

The wine in question, a 1787 bottle of Chateau Lafite Bordeaux, sold at auction in 1985 for the unprecedented amount of $156,000 in a heated battle at Christies of London.

At the center of the mystery in The Billionaire's Vinegar is Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States and wine connoisseur. Apparently Jefferson purchased the enigmatic wine in France some 200 years before – or did he?

Wallace skillfully blends history with his consummate wine knowledge throughout The Billionaire's Vinegar. And although the book is non-fiction, the intriguing cast of characters reads almost like they were rendered for fiction.

Enter mysterious character number one, Michael Broadbent, British wine specialist for Christies, whose unassuming manner leads us to believe he would never trade his sense of ethics over a large sale item like the 1787 auctioned bottle of Lafite. Then there is the other key player, Hardy Rodenstock – an elusive German collective who is very secretive regarding his wine sources.

Every character that Wallace introduces contributes to the larger picture of solving the puzzle of the mysterious origins of the LaFite, or to the larger question of wine forgery in general.

Literary Merit and Sexual Innuendo

Wallace goes a bit over-board with sexual innuendo when he characterizes the main players in the The Billionaire's Vinegar. It seems at times he uses these anecdotal tid-bits to sell us on The Billionaire's Vinegar, as when he writes of a Michael Broadbent reminiscence of the Russian born Napa Valley wine consultant, Andre Tschelistcheff, tasting an old Lafite: "Tasting old wine is like making love to an old lady." After a dramatic pause, he had continued, "It is possible." After another pause: "It can even be enjoyable." Then, following one last sip: "But it requires a leetle bit of imagination."

It is clear that Wallace believes this formulaic titillation is required for our entertainment, but The Billionaire's Vinegar moves along quite well without the over-baked male bravado.

Fast-Paced Plotting

Wallace uses expert pacing and plotting throughout The Billionaire's Vinegar – we learn of Jefferson's romance of the vine and wine in France, meanwhile, skipping to the present, we are chasing down the clues to find if the bottle of Lafite is actually wine, or something else entirely.

The Billionaire's Vinegar traverses through Europe and travels through time – all in all, an exciting, page turning journey.

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