Unblocked: a brief history of wine fraud, Part 3
Wine Frauds – a short detour
Wine Fraud exploits wine industry processes in many ways. The rewards are high, while the chances of being caught are small. Penalties such as fines and imprisonment tend to be light too. Wine fraud damages everyone. This slide lists ten major wine frauds that are all a matter of public record. These scandals are about faking wine for profit; usually by adulteration, substitution or just counterfeiting.
Some well-known wine frauds – it’s scandalous
For more details about these, see my previous article on the subject here.
Indeed, at the time this presentation was made in Verona during December 2017, a new scandal involving Bordeaux wines broke. And that was hot on the heels of another Bordeaux conviction too.
Meanwhile, the discovery of fake Penfolds wines in China in late 2017 adds to an ever-lengthening list. Penfolds is one of the most successful brands in the Chinese market. Unfortunately, China is awash with fakes.
Remember that all these examples are probably just the tip of the Iceberg – how many fraudsters get away with it?
These and so many other wine scandals destroy valuable names, and damage producer, appellation and retailer reputations.
They cause industry-wide losses, close off export markets, destroy sales and jobs, make people very ill or even kill them.
Fraud costs the wine industry a fortune and rips-off consumers.
Did you think wine fraud was only about faking expensive “investment wines,” which only impacts the wealthy few? The reality is that the volume consumer market is just as vulnerable.
Consequently, as a wine-drinker, how does this make you feel? And consumers remember. In fact, an increasing amount of consumers distrust the current situation and see little progress.
So consumers increasingly expect full traceability and transparency in the food and wine they buy. That’s the subject of Part 4.