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Fraud in Languedoc: UPDATE

Feb 19th, 2010 by

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Posted in Wine

10 Responses to “Fraud in Languedoc: UPDATE”

  1. Chris says:
    February 19, 2010 at 4:41 pm

    I’m confused on this one. The account by Dana Kennedy, the one that quotes you, suggests that the pinot was cut with ‘shiraz’–does somebody in France call it shiraz? But the Red Bicyclette source lists the wine as 7% syrah/5% grenache anyway. Was the proportion just skewed?

  2. David (pampdog) Palmer says:
    February 19, 2010 at 5:07 pm

    Ok, silly question. If you are a real wine connoisseur, wouldn’t you know something funky was up when you tasted the fake Pinot? Ok, another silly question: what does it mean to say fake Pinot? Does it just mean you poured low grade Pinot into a bottle with a high grade label? I apologize for my explicit vino ignorance.

  3. Josh says:
    February 19, 2010 at 5:37 pm

    This reminds me of the classic Simpsons episode where Bart becomes a foreign exchange student in Paris and becomes a child laborer at a winery. He eventually escapes and tells the police that they put antifreeze in the wine.

  4. David Flaherty says:
    February 19, 2010 at 5:38 pm

    Chris, thanks for writing in. I’m not sure where Dana Kennedy got her information about the lesser grapes being Syrah (or “Shiraz” as she called it–you’re right, a Frenchman would never call it that!), but I have read that elsewhere, as well.

    There’s a great write up by the San Francisco Chronicle that says its Syrah and Merlot, both of which sell at lower price points: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/wine/detail?entry_id=57565

    In terms of the proportion being skewed, that is absolutely what has happened. My assumption is that there was so little Pinot Noir actually in the blend that after a a certain point calling it “Pinot Noir” (and charging the higher price-point for such) is fraudulent.

    In the US, the law states that 75% of the wine must be made up of a particular grape to put that grapes name on the label. In the EU, it must make up 85% of the wine.

  5. David Flaherty says:
    February 19, 2010 at 5:57 pm

    David, no apologies necessary. I’m sure if you’re confused than many others are, as well. You just had the courage to ask the questions! So, let’s break it down…

    1) Yes, as there is no specific tool for easily testing grape varietal make-up of a wine when you purchase it, you would think that Gallo would have a “connoisseur” in place who would certify the wine when it was bought. (Especially when there is this much money on the line). Granted, its not easy to always identify the grape by taste but that’s no excuse…

    2) At this price point (under $10), Red Bicyclette IS low-grade Pinot Noir. But since Pinot is one of the most expensive grapes to produce, the swindlers were using non-Pinot grapes that were cheaper and passing them off as their more expensive brethren.

  6. David Flaherty says:
    February 19, 2010 at 6:02 pm

    Josh, I haven’t seen that episode but I’m sure it was hilarious. There was actually a well-known incident in 1985 in Austria called the “Antifreeze Scandal” where wine brokers were caught adulterating wine with diethylene glycol.

  7. Chris says:
    February 20, 2010 at 3:13 am

    David, the term ‘real wine connoisseur’ is a loaded one, and that’s a humble enough assessment. I’m recalling a double blind of some 20 years ago when Sonoma cabernet sauvignon was on the docket. Notes were duly taken after the first flight, when it was revealed that accidentally, the bonehead in the back had poured chambourcin. Granted, the notes were interesteing–but not one taster realized ‘wrong varietal’.

    They were all master sommeliers. And 20 years ago, this was a somewhat more elite crowd than it is today.

  8. Lupin says:
    February 23, 2010 at 10:57 am

    FWIW, local gossip (I am an American expat living in the region) is that the Americans pretty much said, “we want that much wine [huge quantity] at that price [very low price] and we don’t care how you do it, and if you don’t give it to us, someone else will.”
    Actually the locals feel they did provide some very decent plonk for the price. That doesn’t excuse the fraud, of course.
    Just saying.

  9. David Flaherty says:
    February 23, 2010 at 11:02 pm

    Lupin, interesting perspective, thanks for sharing. Doesn’t sound too far off base, does it? Ah, yes, the joys of globalization and the race to the bottom. Sounds like how lead paint ends up in a Thomas the Tank Engine toy…”how much for quality paint?! Get the hell out of my office!”

  10. Lupin says:
    February 24, 2010 at 1:45 am

    I’ve read somewhere that Gallo is like Wal-Mart, always squeezing suppliers with a take it or leave it price. Some brand names have taken to manufacture cheaper (inferior?) versions of their goods just for W-M. That’s what happened here. The real fraudsters are Gallo.

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