Sour Grapes

(E, 86mins)

Despite being less The Wolf of Wall St and more the Axolotl of Arcadia, Rudy Kurniawan’s fall from grace is equally as compelling as that of Jordan Belfort.

Back in the noughties, the Indonesian immigrant was seen as something like a savignon savant on the Los Angeles wine collection scene. Known for an impeccable palette and ability to source rare vintages, his knowledge and expertise became highly sought after. But not everyone was convinced of his or his stock’s credentials. A mix of interviews with the main subject’s friends and foes and financial and oenology experts, intimate footage of the charismatic Kurniawan in full flight and damning documentation, documentarians Jerry Rothwell and Reuben Atlas piece together a fascinating, if not whole satisfying forensic examination of a seemingly unbelievable fraud.

While the evidence seems prima facie damning and sometimes obvious, the documentary sometimes raises more questions than answers about how he managed to fool so many people and how his ‘‘operation’’ was run. In the end, it’s a perhaps unintentionally damning indictment of the subjectivities and vagaries of wine investment. One person’s ‘‘impressively fruited and beautifully structured’’ vintage, is another person’s ‘‘skunk juice’’. –