You may have read about Rudy Kurniawan, the guy the FBI recently busted for peddling fake high end Bordeaux and Burgundy through the world’s most prestigious auction houses.  To get the definitive story—at least to date—read Ben Wallace’s piece in the NYT Sunday Magazine.  It’s lengthy so grab a glass of wine and dive in.

We’ve talked in a previous blog about the dos and don’ts of buying wine online, but here’s a good (and short) set of recommendations from Tom Wark’s Fermentation blog.

Thinking about raiding your cellar for some drinkable Bordeaux?  Jancis Robinson in the Financial Times gives her recommendations on which vintages are drinking well now, and which ones you should leave sleeping.

For those who buy wine online or direct from wineries, a primary concern is shipping and the potential for the wine to be damaged by exposure to excessive heat during the trip.  A report from the Academic Wino examines a project where wines were tracked during shipment in the U.S. and the temperatures they were exposed to along the way.  The writer also examines some low-cost measures shippers can take to minimize the risk of heat damage.

The great 18^th century French gastronome Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin said “A dinner which ends without cheese is like a beautiful woman with only one eye.”  Since then arguments have raged on wine and cheese match-ups, and whether white wine is the only color to serve with your best cheeses.  Eric Asimov begs to differ and gives several examples of delicious red wine and cheese pairings in his NYT The Pour column.