Saw this article in Chattahbox today.
Fake Red Bicyclette Pinot Noir: French Swindlers Found Guilty
French Customs officials discovered in 2008, that for a period of at least three-years, about 13.5 million liters of mislabeled wine had been sold to Gallo. Members of the Languedoc wine industry illegally cut the fake Pinot Noir with cheaper vintages of Merlot and Syrah.
Six of the 12 French winemakers were handed suspended prison sentences and fines, and the others were made to pay hefty fines.
The Sieur d’Arques trading firm of Limoux was ordered to pay 180,000 euros and Claude Courset was sentenced to a six-month suspended prison sentence and a fine of 45,000 euros.
E. & J. Gallo, bottled the mislabeled wine for its Red Bicyclette Pinot Noir line. Gallo believes that only the 2006 Pinot Noir and perhaps prior, are actually bottles of cheap red table wine
Just Saying…. Here is the complete article
