I’ve often wondered how a wine like the Renaissance 1985 cabernet sauvignon could be sold to investors (like the Wine Exchange of California, which was finally shut down by the Federal Trade Commission) who ought to know better. The answer may be: “wine judges” and “wine competitors.” The Renaissance 1985, which was barely drinkable (and unsaleable) according to former Bonham and Butterfield’s auctioneer Bruce Kaiser, actually won a “gold medal” at a fair in California. How could this happen? To find out we interviewed Kaiser not long after he had been a wine judge at the San Francisco Fair.