From the drinks business: New Hong Kong Auction House Under Fire for Fake Wine
A new auction house in Hong Kong has come under scrutiny after the provenance of certain wines at its inaugural sale were called into question.
Dragon 8 is a new fine art and wine auction house founded by Gil Lempert-Schwarz who formerly worked for Acker Merrall & Condit. Registered in Hong Kong in the summer of this year, it held its first sale on 21 November.
Concerns surrounding the provenance and, in a few cases, the authenticity of some of the lots at the sale resulted in the auctioneer defending itself and even withdrawing the controversial items from sale.
As a result of allegations made by anti-fraud campaigner Don Cornwell in particular, Dragon 8 withdrew several lots from its sale and has made a statement (below) to the effect that these wines, which it claimed were genuine, would nonetheless not appear at a Dragon 8 sale again.
The issues arose very shortly before the sale, when LA-based lawyer Cornwell raised a number of questions surrounding the provenance of certain wines in the sale and the authenticity of a few more in a post on the popular forum, Wine Berserkers. (article continues at length)
BEHOLD THE POWER OF INTERNET WINE FORUMS!