Forensics and wine – not something I’ve previously thought about but apparently wine fraud is prevalent and costly. Lettie Teague’s first of two reports on wine fraud What It Takes to Out-Sleuth Wine Fraud is fascinating. According to the article, wine fraudsters use a mix of tools to deceive buyers into thinking a wine is highly prized. The tools are not sophisticated but include “counterfeit labels, blank corks and empty bottles to be filled.” Like all fraud, wine fraud isn’t a victimless crime, adversely affecting winery owners’ reputations and hard work costing the industry millions of dollars a year.