Wine fraud has existed since wine was invented.
Until a few years ago, in France, it was at a fairly manageable level – a few dedicated experts counterfeiting labels and wax seals in order to pass basic wine off as something fancier.
But over the last decade, things have changed.
The prices fetched by the best grand crus on the world market are now so high – thousands of pounds a bottle – that it has become profitable to conduct the fraud in a much more organised way.
The centre of this kind of fraud is said to be Italy. That is because they have the wine know-how there: artisans who understand labelling and old bottles and corks; and also a criminal underworld that is prepared to invest.
Today, one wine auctioneer told me, the counterfeiting of old bottles and labels is so skilful that even the vineyards themselves are often unable to spot a fake.
And with some buyers then storing the wine for years, they may never find out it is a fake.
With international buyers, especially in China, willing to spend £20,000 or more on a top-quality bottle, the criminal temptation to create the perfect bottle – then fill it with rubbish – is for some too big to resist.
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