Pinot noir fraud could land 13 winemakers in jail
FRENCH wine makers could face up to 12 months in jail following the unfolding of what Decanter noted as the world’s biggest wine con. E&J Gallo are at the centre of the con as being the recipient of what they believed to be over 3.5 million gallons of pinot noir, but in fact, according to wine experts and a French court, was in fact phoney pinot noir.
With enough to fill 16 million bottles, Gallo, the American wine producer, bought the wine under the label of being from the Languedoc-Roussillon area. But authorities were alerted after suspicions were raised as to the amount of pinot noir being exported from the region was thought to far exceed historic levels.
Thirteen people have been charged with selling the wine labelled as something in fact it wasn’t. It is believed that Gallo paid in the region of €4 million for the wine over a two year period.

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland’s (FSAI) Food Safety Consultative Council recently hosted an open meeting to discuss the position for and against the merits of buying Irish food. The open meeting, entitled ‘Should Ireland’s Food be Irish?’ provided an opportunity for a discussion on the benefits and disadvantages to consumers who buy food produced in Ireland and the current legislation in place to regulate food labelling, whilst also giving the general public an opportunity to see the workings of the Food Safety Consultative Council.
Speakers at the event said that in the current economic climate, recent pressures placed on the consumer including wage cuts, tax increases and cutbacks in public expenditure have made consumers increasingly price sensitive, and as a result price trends for food in 2009 had fallen by 7.8 per cent, with non-alcoholic beverages falling by 11.7 per cent.
“The question of whether Ireland’s food should be Irish is a highly topical issue, especially given the current economic climate. The open meeting allows both sides of the debate to put forward their current thinking and views on the advantages and disadvantages of purchasing Irish food, and how consumers can be sure that food which they believe to be sourced locally is of Irish origin,” according to Ms Veronica Campbell, chair, Food Safety Consultative Council.
“Studies conducted by Bord Bia have shown that Irish shoppers are not just claiming an interest in food produced locally, they are increasingly buying local produce, with a steady increase in the numbers purchasing Irish products on a weekly basis. Quality symbols have also grown in significance, with 48 per cent of shoppers always checking for these merits compared to 29 per cent in 2001. Clear and unambiguous labelling is, therefore, of vital importance when it comes to providing Irish consumers with the full picture, as 26 per cent of shoppers confirm that they always check the country of origin on the label. The EU has made significant strides in minimising vague labelling information, however, discussions continue on tightening country of origin laws at an EU level, similar to the beef example, where substantial transformation is in place,” said Mr Raymond O’Rourke, Food and Consumer Lawyer and member of the Taste Council.