Bordeaux fraud concern - Brief Article

Concern is growing in the wine industry over the damage being done to France's Bordeaux region by accusations of fraud, as the release of the 2001 vintage draws near. As reported in just-drinks, the most recent scandal concerns some 20 top Bordeaux chateaux including Petrus and Margaux. Claims have been made that older vintages are being routinely "rejuvenated" by the addition of younger wines. In addition to Petrus and Margaux, Chateau d'Yquem, Haut-Brion and Mouton-Rothschild have also been visited.

The investigation was ordered after a Belgian wine merchant, Khaled Rouabah, apparently attempted to sell 360 bottles of Lafite and Margaux 1900 that turned out not to be genuine. Rouabah claims that new wine was routinely added to rejuvenate ancient vintages, and he told the judge that this was a normal part of the reconditioning process.

The Rouabah affair follows a recent case involving another wine merchant, Jacques Hemmer, who has admitted selling between 1994 and 1997 wine labeled as Bordeaux that was cut by up to 12% with cheap table wine.

As it is so often in cases such as these, the true nature of the most recent story has been blown out of proportion by the popular press. This current issue does not bear any comparison to the serious nature of last year's Burgundy scandal where wine bound for distillation was being bottled as premium Bourgogne.

In this case, quality is not at issue. Wines from vintages, some over 100 years old, have allegedly been topped up following evaporation. This is actually allowed under the Bordeaux regulations, but in these instances, wines from a subsequent vintage--though from the same chateaux--have been used. The top-up may only have amounted to an inch of wine in any case.

One could well argue that a region that claims to be the benchmark of quality and prestige in the world of wine, and seems to have no qualms about proclaiming itself as such at every opportunity, cannot turn a blind eye to any breach of its rules. But things have to be kept in perspective. This is hardly reclassifying a 2000 Languedoc Syrah as First Growth Bordeaux.

Nevertheless, the cases have received international coverage, and the condemnation in some of the French press has been almost vitriolic. "Bordeaux wine producers have covered themselves in the flag of virtue. When will they stop this pomposity which is on the brink of being intellectually dishonest and say truly what goes on," one correspondent in the French paper Aujourd'hui said. Some reports even have producers warning of a return to "the black year of 1973." Then, as now, the market was inflated, and the repercussions of the so-called "Cruze affair" saw prices drop dramatically.

There is genuine and well-founded concern that in a year where the premium market is still reeling from the effects of Sep. 11, a fraud scandal of this nature could have a serious impact on prices. That said, a modest adjustment in prices might not be so disastrous for Bordeaux. Following what many considered the best harvest across the board for some 20 years in 2000 and the magical millennial number on the label, there was a stratospheric rise in prices in Bordeaux. The more patchy nature of the 2001 vintage has some merchants fearing a return to the economics of the 1997 vintage, when they were forced to pay extraordinarily high prices to fill their shelves with poor wine, where it sat...and sat...and indeed much of it still sits.

This is not to deny that the recent scandals represent a major headache for Bordeaux. The region has worked hard on its international image in recent years but principally for its standard wines. Its top chateaux were naturally deemed to be untouchable. But Bordeaux trades heavily on its top names and the region's administrative council, the Conseil Inter-professionnel du Vin de Bordeaux (CIVB), needs to act fast to limit any damage to its leading brands, which are so important to its overall success.

The question is, How? Will the CIVB really risk "outing" one of its flagship producers or declassifying a First Growth? The answer is clearly never, but not because such censure would be too draconian a response to the alleged offence. Quite simply, it would be a self-destructive step of incalculable proportions for the CIVB to besmirch the reputation of its most prestigious names. However, the consistent trickle of stories of this nature is highly destructive too. Whether or not they are true, greater transparency is needed, particularly now to rebuild confidence.

(The above article is reprinted by permission from the Web site justdrinks.com. Chris Brook-Carter is the managing editor of just-drinks.)

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