Château de Sham

The gotcha moment in this documentary about wine fakery comes in some grainy footage of Indonesian wine expert Rudy Kurniawan at an auction. Learning that a bottle of wine he recently consumed has shot up in price, he shakes his head ruefully: “Can I refill it and put the cork back?”

Turns out that’s pretty much what Kurniawan was up to for many years, after appearing from out of nowhere in the mid-2000s and finagling his way into circles of wealthy Hollywood wine connoisseurs. He started by buying up huge quantities of rare wines, driving up already high prices. Next, he sold off bottles from his own cellars, making millions in profit, and lining the pockets of a local auction house in the process.

Directors Jerr y Rothwell and Reuben Atlas follow the paper trail – or the glass, wax and cork trail, if you will – from multiple viewpoints, especially that of Laurent Ponsot. He’s a winemaker from Burgundy, eager to protect the reputation of his own product and that of the region of France where it’s made.

“Wine is the expression of place and Burgundy is the ultimate example of this,” says one expert. Counterfeit wine, like fakes of any kind, undermine confidence and value in the real thing. Plus, as someone notes on tasting one of Kurniawan’s wares, “it tastes like skunk juice.”

Sour Grapes might be more involving if it delved more deeply into the psychology of fraud, and the willingness of some people to believe in the fake. (For a funny fictional take on the topic, check out Ken Loach’s 2012 comedy The Angels’ Share, about whisky counterfeiters.)

But it’s still a fascinating journey, and the directors save some of the most shocking details until the end. At which point you’ll realize that when you thought you were drinking deeply of the tale, it turns out what you had so far was merely a taste. ΩΩΩ Sour Grapes opens May 27 at the Bloor cinema in Toronto.