Having rapidly scanned his piece, I offer the following observations and shortcuts to the new stuff:
- Rudy was a major buyer of old burgundy from, of all people, Patriarche! Perhaps this was the only source he could find of affordable liquid that could reasonably be passed off as burgundy.
- Those famous Domaine Ponsot Clos St Denis wines from the wrong vintages were possibly inspired by a bottle of Christine Ponsot 1947 Clos St-Denis bought by Rudy. He presumably confused this with a Dom Ponsot bottling when in fact Christine Ponsot was a sous-marque used by négociant Émile Chandesais which had no relationship with the Ponsot family of Dom Ponsot.
- Laurent Ponsot is convinced that Rudy did not act alone and says that he suspects he knows the identity of his mentor/accomplice.
- Rudy never seemed to have a girlfriend but sometimes brought his mother to wine tastings. He took over the restaurant Melisse in Los Angeles for her 60th birthday celebrations attended by the likes of Jackie Chan and, inter alia, a jeroboam of (what was taken to be) Pétrus.
Steinberger's usually racy, fluid style seems to have been somewhat solidified by the rigours of the VF editing process but there is lots of nourishment here.
