his name is rudy kurniawan. >> he was generous and he had the juice.watches. he drove a bugatti he had a house in bel air. living high on the hog and being the toast of the town. >> reporter: rudy was a regular at the top restaurants in los angeles and new york. >> he was a big, big partier. rudy picked up an $85,000 tab and he did that more than once. >> reporter: and soon rudy kurniawan's fame spread across the wine world. known in auction houses as someone with rare wines that no one else could find. >> this is a 1961 latour a pomerol that was basically unseen in the market for about 30 years. >> reporter: maureen downey is a wine expert who helped to unmask rudy's many fakes. >> and all of a sudden, rudy kurniawan started mass producing them. and they were available kind of like crazy. >> reporter: snapped up, she says, as status symbols for the rich. >> you know, these bravado jackasses who, you know, my bottle's bigger than your bottle. >> reporter: what they did not know was that rudy's rare wine was not produced in some french chateau 50 years