French customs launch investigation into fake Bordeaux
French authorities have launched an investigation into the alleged sale of more than half a million bottles of fake Bordeaux wine to international distributors.
The alleged fraud is said to involve the switching of 4,200hl of Languedoc bulk wine into bottles of Bordeaux, organized by a Bordeaux negociant and was covered up by falsifying electronic records to make the wines impossible to trace.
Over a third of the 4,200hl is believed to have been transferred to Bordeaux AOC bottles, with 700hl rumoured to have been turned into Bordeaux Superieur.
But French publication Vitisphere claims that 700 hl of the bulk wine was turned into Pomerol, 600hl into Margaux, 350hl into Paulliac and 100hl into Saint Julien wine between 2012 and 2014.
It reported the wine was sold by a negociant to a number of major distributors including the Castel Group, Grand Chais de France and Grands Vins de Gironde for as much as 10 times the amount of the price of generic Languedoc wine.
The Bordeaux wine board CIVB has declined to comment on the inquiry.