Never piss off a billionaire

From the Los Angeles Times:

William Koch (right) didn't mean to turn the wine world upside down.

The Palm Beach, FL, billionaire developed a taste for wine as a young man and, as he accumulated wealth, built an extensive wine collection. Among that collection: a 1787 Lafite Bordeaux with Thomas Jefferson's initials etched into the bottle.

Except, he says, it's a fake.

"I thought that I had a piece of history, a piece of America's most important history," Koch said, holding up the bottle in his wine cellar, which contains about 40,000 bottles.

His response to the alleged fakery was unheard of in the wine world: He sued the seller.

Since that initial lawsuit, he has filed four more and is working on another. He says he aims to clean up an industry where a single bottle can fetch more than $100,000.

Now, collectors are warier. Some auction houses are shunning him.

And the wine world hasn't been the same.

[Go here for the full story.]

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'Calistoga' approved as a wine designation

Chalk up one more designation in the ever-more-complex world of U.S. wine labeling.

Napa Valley winemakers have been cleared by the federal government to put the name "Calistoga" on wines made from grapes grown in that California town.

The decision by the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, which regulates wine and wine labels, goes into effect early in 2010. A California law also requires Napa vintners to use the words "Napa Valley" on labels.

Local vintners first petitioned the feds in 2003 for the Calistoga permission. Calistoga, located in the northern part of Napa Valley, is one of the region's oldest communities.

The lengthy process, and some lobbying and lawsuits that created quite a controversial situation, are detailed in this report on the SFGate.com website.

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Late billionaire's wine going to auction

To people of a certain age, the name Doris Duke will ring a bell. A gold-plated bell.

The late, lone heir to the estate of tobacco tycoon James Duke once was known as the "richest little girl in the world." In 1924, at the age of 12, she inherited his $100 million estate derived from both Duke Energy and the American Tobacco Co. which today is known as Fortune Brands.

She was known as a philanthropist and excellent businesswoman whose estate was worth $1.2 billion at the time of her death in 1993.

Among the many things she collected over her lifespan was wine. And, not just any wine. Four lots from her cellars will be up for auction at Christie's in Manhattan on Wednesday, December 9.

Each of the four lots of three bottles of 1929 Chateau d'Yquem has a pre-sale estimate of $15,000 to $24,000.

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