The region of Champagne is fiercely protective of the reputation of its wines and what can and cannot be marketed as ‘champagne’. But one of the greatest frauds is alleged to have been perpetrated by a local producer. He stands accused of adding carbon dioxide to imported Spanish white wine and selling over one million bottles of this drink as authentic champagne. It’s a case that has serious ramifications for the entire French wine industry.
The Didier Chopin affair made headlines across this world. Denounced by a former employee, his company is now in receivership and a fraud investigation has been opened up. We spoke to him in Morocco, where he continues to deny all wrong doing. In another high-profile case, wine merchants from Bordeaux were convicted of selling 4.6 million bottles of Spanish wine disguised as AOC Bordeaux. They are now appealing but one of the convicted fraudsters gave us their version of events.
In addition to cases of adulterated champagne and table wine sold at the price of a great vintage, there’s the issue of bogus wine competitions. Many consumers look for the reassurance of a ‘prize winning’ bottles. But while some competitions involve a jury of 70 sommeliers and wine experts from all over the world blind-testing the samples, others grant a ‘medal’ to virtually every applicant…