London restaurant learns the risk of selling old, expensive wine

Anyone who spends the price of a new car on a single bottle of wine deserves the best _ but a connoisseur at a Michelin-starred restaurant recently found his fancy vintage to be sub-par, and possibly a fake. It happened at London's Zafferano restaurant when a regular customer ordered an 18,000 pound (US$35,000, euro24,000) magnum of 1961 Petrus wine last month. But when the cork was removed, it was not stamped with the standard mark proving where and when it had been made. The customer said "`This could be a fake'," said general manager Enzo Cassini. At Cassini's request, Corney & Barrow, an upmarket wine bar chain in London that acts as agents for Petrus, later examined the rejected bottle. "We think it's genuine, but it's impossible to confirm because neither we or the chateau have records going back pre-1964," said Adam Brett-Smith, the chain's managing director.

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Your Easy Guide to Washington Wines

You can find Wine Trails (which costs $19.95) at Elliott Bay Book Co., the downtown Barnes & Noble, select QFC stores, Capers in West Seattle and Fremont, Verve Wine Bar in Columbia City, and the Chateau Ste. Michelle tasting room. You can also buy the book directly from the author at www.winetrailsnw.com. Keep it in the car, next to your 100 Hikes books, and never be thirsty on the road again.
mdutton@seattleweekly.com