“There are more 1982 Lafites in China than have been produced in France”

Sélectionné par la rédaction

Par Le Figaro pour le cercle :

After faking entire Apple stores, China is getting in the business of fake French wines.

Cut with sweet water, artificial coloring or artificial flavors, the wines are sold in Chinese supermarkets with the label “Bordeaux Wine” and sometimes even as 30-year-old vintages. “There are more 1982 Lafites in China than have been produced in France,” said Romain Vandevoorde, a wine importer in Beijing.

Other forgeries are more subtle. By substituting one wine for another, unscrupulous vendors can sell an ordinary bottle of Bordeaux at the phenomenal price of a high-ranked vintage.

Among the top ten wine drinkers

In China, the consumption of wine remains the privilege of a small elite, more eager to proclaim its social status by drinking foreign nectars than to relish their taste. In this context, these fake wines easily deceive their audience.

Yet consumption and knowledge of wine is evolving rapidly in China. The country became one of the world’s top ten wine-drinking countries in 2008 and could become sixth as early as 2014. By then, producers of great vintages could have taught amateurs the difference.

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» Read the original article in French by Julie Desné (Shanghai correspondent)

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