Q. Was Allen Meadows paid by Kapon/Acker Merrall or not?
A. Yes, and Allen continues to be under contract with Acker Merrall. Throughout the time period in question Allen had a contract with Acker which called for him to make public appearances in connection with certain Acker events. This included at least one auction per year held in Hong Kong in the spring and one or more Acker wine tasting events, most done under the auspices of "Wine Workshop," the name which Acker uses to conduct wine tastings. It is my understanding that Allen discontinued attending the Acker Hong Kong auctions after the May 2010 Eric Greenberg auction. I also believe that Mr. Meadows was compensated for his work in connection with the Introductions to the Cellar II auction and the provision of a large number of special tasting notes written specifically for use in The Cellar I auction catalog which are referenced in John Kapon's introduction. Here is Mr. Kapon's description from the Cellar I catalag in January of 2006:
I had called upon my good friend and Burgundy expert Allen Meadows to help me out with some tasting note support 48 hours before our deadline. It took some persuading on my part, but Allen was up for the task and provided over 120 additional tasting notes to accompany the first session wines. Suffice to say no one else could provide such a detailed and broad perspective of aged and rare Burgundies like Allen. This is precisely why the most knowledgeable collectors consider him to be the foremost expert on Burgundy in the world.
As we were wrapping up the first session notes, I joked with Allen about how it could be he didn't have tasting notes for wines like 1966, 1969 and 1978 Romanee Conti. He apologized and said he would sooner or later fill those holes in his database. Consequently, I responded jokingly that we should get a tasting together that evening to fill in a few holes. Naturally, I cc'd the consignor on my email as I knew that Allen and he were good friends. Not to my surprise considering the consignor's well known generosity, he was up forthe challenge, and Allen and
I joined the owner of 'THE Cellar' with another anonymous friend for dinner four hours later.
[Kapon's descriptions of the six additional wines tasted with Rudy Kurniawan and Allen Meadows that evening] .... You can see Allen's notes for the above wines in the catalogue, as welL
If you look at the Burghound website and click on the tab "Speaking Engagements" you will find a list of the places that Allen appears in return for appearance fees. Allen most recently appeared at Acker's annual Burghound in the City tasting on October 14, 2013. Mr. Meadows has appeared at Acker tasting events every year for many years running. Several of us have repeatedly urged Allen over the years to terminate his relationship with Acker as it was inconsistent with his claims of complete independence and that he should not permit any auction company to obtain the implied impirautur of authenticity which his presence at the auctions and pre-auction tasting events would convey. I am also informed that Allen accepted reimbursement of his travel expenses to attend several Acker auctions and pre-auction dinners in New York. This was related to me by one of the witnesses in the trial who also admitted that he also has been reimbursed by Acker for his expenses to attend the auctions because he was a regular bidder.
Q. Did he disclose this financial relationship in the reviews he wrote of those wines?
A. No.
Q. Did he attend gratis dinners with Rudy, Kapon, Eric Greenberg, Rob Rosania or not?
A. If you mean to include the pre-auction tasting dinners, the answer is yes. If you are referring to private dinners, my understanding is yes with respect to Rudy and Kapon. I am unsure as to Greenberg and Rosania.
Q. Did he disclose that he was attending those dinners gratis when he wrote up the notes (given they were all thereabouts consigning millions of dollars of wine for auction)?
A. No.
Q. Has Allen Meadows retroactively deleted reviews he previously published, because the wines were fake? Does he disclose this in the place of where the reviews were, and/or are the reviews still published with a disclaimer?
A. I cannot be certain whether Allen has deleted any reviews previously published because he now believes that the wines were fake. There is no indication in the database of any reviews that were previuosly published that have been withdrawn because the wines were fake.
However, as documented previously in this thread, several months ago Allen went through the database and eliminated all of the references in the tasting notes where it indicated that the wines were provided by Rudy Kurniawan. The reviews for the wines remained, but the reference to the wine originating from Rudy was eliminated. I find that inexcusable and unforgiveable.
Also, as I've previously detailed in the thread, Allen has, at a minimum, pulled his punches with respect to wines Allen publicly acknowledged to be non-authentic that came from Rudy. This is very clear with the respect to the so-called "authentication" tasting of Cellar I and Cellar II wines which was organized by Doug Barzelay which took place on January 14, 2007. Doug testified about this tasting at the trial and he has written about it on his own wine blog called Old Vine Notes.
http://oldvinenotes.com/2012/06/18/the- ... terfeiter/ Christophe Roumier testified about this tasting as well. As Doug has written and testified, everyone at the tasting, including Allen Meadows, agreed that the 1923, 1929 and 1945 Roumier Bonnes Mares Ancien Domaine Belorgey and the 1955 and 1959 Roumier Musigny were counterfeit and clearly not correct. All of these wines came from the Cellar I or Cellar II auction. But, here are Allen's reviews of those wines so you can see for yourself the difference --
1923 Roumier Bonnes Mares
Tasting note: (noted on the label as Ancien Domaine Belorgey; the story behind this wine is that when the Domaine was founded, apparently certain barrels of '23 that were in the acquired cellars were bottled under the Roumier name - there is no incontrovertible proof of this however). An expressive and potent nose that combines notes of lactic and volatile acids, sous bois, earth, spice and tertiary aromas precede rich, full and robust flavors that possess plenty of sweetness and mouth coating velvet on the long and silky finish that is slightly marred by just a touch of acidity poking through. This is really in fine shape and is a lovely if not truly profound example. (Note however two other bottles were marred by fairly strong volatile acidity and both possessed unusually deep colors and heavy, sweet and mocha-infused finishes, atypical even by the standards of a very ripe vintage at 80+ years of age. It's possible that these bottles had been reconditioned, and not deftly, at some point in their evolution). 93
1929 Roumier Bonnes Mares
Tasting note: This was a curious wine that displayed very deep ruby color with virtually no bricking, which would not be consistent with virtually any of the '29s I have had over the past decade. The nose displays fairly heavy volatile acidity and earth aromas that are followed by impressively concentrated but rather coarse flavors that are again not consistent with what is normally a supremely elegant vintage. Moreover I didn't find it to reflect the Domaine Roumier style at this point in time either. While I cannot of course be certain, this would appear to have been reconditioned at some point and not very well at that. Unfortunately, I have no other notes. Tasted: Jan 14, 2007 80 [Note: in his published article, Doug Barzelay says this bottle wasn't even pinot noir.]
1945 Roumier Bonnes Mares
Tasting note: (from a bottle that came directly from the domaine). Bricking but remarkably deep ruby center. A simply stunning nose of unbelievable complexity with spices, earth, leather, game, underbrush, sous bois and undeniable class leads to rich, expressive and deep flavors that still seem to be holding something in reserve. The finish is powerful, sweet with none of the usual '45 tannins with length that goes on and on for minutes. One of the greatest wines of the vintage and for that matter, of my experience. If you're lucky enough to own the '45, open it for a truly grand occasion. This will hold for another 25 years without any trouble if well stored. I have also tried this from a bottle that was not sourced from the domaine that was, to put it politely, not consistent with the bottle described above. Tasted: Jan 14, 2007 98 [Note: There was only ONE bottle tasted on January 14, 2007 and it was from Rudy and all agreed it was counterfeit. The bottle Allen reviewed was a bottle he shared previously with Christophe Roumier.]
1955 Roumier Musigny
Tasting note: Two bottles of the '55 Musigny were opened, one with the usual Domaine Roumier label and one with the Domaine label carrying the Nicolas stamp). Both wines had very deep colors with almost no bricking, which is not consistent with my recent experience. The better of the two bottles had an expressive nose with lactic and volatile acid notes, some sous bois yet this seemed "refreshed" as the nose seemed a good deal more youthful than one might reasonably expect. The flavors were also youthful if delicious with richness and depth though also with a certain coarseness that again suggested that these bottles might have been reconditioned at some point though not especially well, particularly since neither bottle resembled the '55 Bonnes Mares or Amoureuses. Tasted: Jan 14, 2007 86 [Note: According to Doug Barzelay both bottles came from those sold by Rudy at Cellar I/Cellar II and both were agreed fake by all present]
1959 Roumier Musigny
Tasting note: The bottle in this tasting was not quite as impressive as one tasted in Burgundy two years ago due to moderate lactic acid notes on the nose but it was still extremely impressive. The better of the two examples that I have had displayed a high-toned and incredibly fresh nose compared to any '59 that I've had recently and even displays a hint of menthol to add nuance to the beautifully complex, spicy and airy aromas where the spice continues onto the round, intense and moderately secondary flavors that culminate in a sweet, delicious and vibrant finish that delivers simply breathtaking length. This is impeccably well balanced and not only is it very fresh, it possesses unusually good acidity for the vintage. In sum, this was impressive and the score reflects what was in the bottle but either this had been substantially refreshed or it wasn't from 1959. Tasted: Jan 14, 2007 95?
