Sour Grapes

"Sour Grapes" is an interesting documentary because it has a lot to say about human nature...particularly about how stupid folks can be...even rich folks!

The film begins with the insane craze of the 90s and into the 21st century that sent the prices of the premier wines to the moon. In some cases, wines had gone up ten times...all because folks suddenly thought buying Bordeaux wines was the best...and a way to show off their wealth. Into this atmosphere came Rudy Kurniawan...a wine expert that seemed to have an almost inexhaustible supply of wine to sell to the great auction houses. Not surprisingly, eventually folks started to question his high lifestyle and a French winemaker was justifiably angry when he realized counterfeit wines were being sold with his winery's name on it.

Most viewers probably DON'T care too much about spoiled rich folks getting ripped off. However, I enjoyed the film because it was an interesting look at human nature--the greed, the willing stupidity and the insistence by a couple idiots that Rudy STILL is a pretty cool guy!!! It's also interesting, but not the least bit surprising, that Rudy's lawyer made 1001 excuses and minimizations for his client's actions...after all, he IS a defense lawyer. Overall, there's a lot of interesting things here about people...and the realization that wealth and sophistication don't necessarily have much correlation with common sense!

Very interesting documentary, even for a person like me who isn't a wine drinker or wine collector.

I don't drink wine, but I found this documentary very interesting. It's amazing how these self appointed experts were (like the Hollywood director who rather pathetically refuses to take off his shades) - and still are - fooled by what this guy did. They're probably living in denial, embarrassed. And I can't say I'm upset with Koch losing money. I'm only upset he didn't lose more of it.

I was not familiar with the case of wine conman Rudy Kurniawan before this film. This guy was obviosity believable to the point some of the people he sold fake wine too, were still defending him even after his conviction. It really does show that it is much easier to fool somebody than to convince them they have been fooled, AKA the last two years come to mind. Amazing how long this guy was able to operate his scam and make millions all the while hanging out with and being adored by the very people he took advantage of. I thought this doc. Was interesting and well made , recommend.

Documentary about the fine and rare wine auction market centering around a counterfeiter who befriended the rich and powerful and sold millions of dollars of fraudulent wine through the top auction houses.

I don't drink wine often, don't particularly care for it, and know next to nothing about collecting it or its value. Despite that, this documentary was fascinating -- the ability to con the best collectors, and the FBI's attempts to track down the con man. It is a great story of crime, as well as a nice tale of pulling one over on rich snobs who might need a good pranking from time to time.

Good documentaries are hard to find, but this is one of them. It covers everything it needs to and never lingers for too long. If it hasn't already happened, someone needs to turn this into a feature film.