Is Premier Cru Wine Just A Con?

French journalist Isabelle Saporta claims wine critics are regularly bribed by wealthy chateau-owners who own some of the most prestigious vineyards in the area 

Is Premier Cru Wine All Just A Con? How Car Parks And Bribes Influence Grand Cru Classifications -- Daily Mail 

 * Wines from the region are classified to guide quality and price
 * French journalist Isabelle Saporta claims wine critics are regularly bribed
 * She also says the size of visitor car parks, comfort of conference rooms and architecture of the storehouse contribute to the criteria

Car parks and bribes influence the classification of wines in the Bordeaux region of southwest France according to a new book published today which promises to reveal the secrets of the country's wine production.

Wines from the region are classified to guide quality and price - the four best are known as premier grands crus classés A, the next 18 as premiers grands crus classés B and the next 64 as grands crus classés.

But French journalist, Isabelle Saporta, claims wine critics are regularly bribed by wealthy vineyard owners.

Read more ....

My Comment: I suspect not only is cash given .... but also cases and cases of free wine to influence their evaluations.

Massive Wine Fraud Uncovered In France

Photo: Police said bottles of Nuits St George were filled up with cheaper wine as part of a scam to defraud connoisseurs (stock image)

Top Wine Trading Company 'Filled Vintage Bottles With Cheap Alcohol As Part Of Multimillion Pound Fraud' -- -- Daily Mail

* Labouré-Roi took expensive bottles of Nuits St George and put cheap supermarket wine in them
* Nuits St George was not in on the scam
* Scam is believed to have defrauded several hundred million pounds from wine connoisseurs
* Two former executives - brothers aged 82 and 83 - were arrested but later released

Thousand of British wine connoisseurs have unwittingly been drinking vintage burgundy topped up with cheap table wine under a scam operated by one of France’s most prestigious traders, prosecutors have claimed.

Following an 18-month investigation, police say that merchants Labouré-Roi took bottles of Nuits St George and topped them up with supermarket wines.

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My Comment: This is not the first time something like this has been done .... nor will it be the last.

More News On The Rudy Kurniawan Wine Counterfeiting Arrest

More News On Rudy Kurniawan’s Wine Counterfeiting Arrest -- Dr. Vino

The story of Rudy Kurniawan’s arrest on charges of selling counterfeit wine has been all over the news since the FBI arrested him on Thursday. Here’s some of the recent action:

* WineDiaraist and Wine Spectator have published photos from federal prosecutors taken from the scene of the alleged crime; one of those, with stacks of Petrus 1950 and Lafleur 1947 labels among others, is reproduced above.

* The compliant states that Kurniawan had been living illegally in the US since 2003. He tallied $16 million in American Express bills between 2006 – 2011. He ran up $11 million of debt in 2007 alone. At the time of the arrest, he had a Lamborghini, a Mercedes-Benz and a Range Rover in the garage.

Read more ....

My Comment: Bottom line .... Rudy Kurniawan’s career as a wine expert is over.