Summary

From counterfeiting to adulteration, wine fraud comes in all manner of forms – all of them endlessly fascinating to wine lovers.  

Rebecca Gibb MW is the author of Wine Crime, a ‘seriously well-researched, disciplined history of wine fraud’, according to jancisrobinson.com, that boasts a ‘lively, well-paced, humorous, deliciously gossipy, slyly acerbic narrative’.  

We’ll hear tales of Roman wines laced with lead, Austria’s ‘anti-freeze’ cuvées, and, in between times, wines so butchered that they contributed to Beethoven’s demise.  We’ll delve into the age-old process of adulterating wine – from Hermitage presented as Bordeaux to Languedoc Merlot masquerading as Pinot. We’ll hear how price-fixing led to riots on the streets of Champagne. And we’ll shine a spotlight on more recent scandals, including the fraudsters who deceived the world’s biggest auction houses, from Rudy to Rodenstock.  

We are delighted to welcome Rebecca to Wine Scholar Guild for this special ‘In Conversation With’ event with Justin, our Membership Manager.

About Rebecca Gibb MW

Rebecca is an award-winning wine journalist, author of Vintage Crime: A short history of wine fraud, The Wines of New Zealand and one of only 416 Masters of Wine in the world.

A former winner of the UK’s Young Wine Writer of the Year and the inaugural Louis Roederer Emerging Wine Writer of the Year, Rebecca became a Master of Wine in 2015. In a record class of 24 graduates, she was awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award and the Bollinger Medal in recognition of outstanding tasting ability.  

Today, Rebecca is an editor for online wine publication Vinous, covering the wines of New Zealand and the Loire Valley.  In addition, she owns wine and spirit jigsaw business, Puzzle CRU.

Having lived in New Zealand for six years, Rebecca has since returned to her roots. She lives in the Lake District with her Kiwi husband and nine-year-old son.