Wine fraud is dishonest behavior in the commerce of wine. The most prevalent form involves adulterating wine, usually by adding cheaper products such as juices and sometimes harmful chemicals and sweeteners to disguise the change. A second common form is counterfeiting or relabeling inferior, cheaper wine under more expensive brand names, and a third involves defrauding investors in the collectible wine market, sometimes through firms that never actually purchase the wine sold to investors.
Facts
Typical PenaltyHistorically, medieval German law punished the sale of fraudulent wine with penalties ranging from branding to beating to death by hanging. 1 Notable ExampleRudy Kurniawan was arrested on March 8, 2012 and indicted for wine fraud after allegedly buying large stocks of negociant Burgundy wine and relabeling it as far more expensive wine such as Domaine de la Romanee-Conti. 1 Jurisdiction VariationWine authenticity law developed country by country: France first legally defined wine as the product of fermented grape juice in 1889, followed by Germany in 1892, expanded in 1909, and Italy in 1904. 1 Classification
Offense GradeMinor or Summary Offense 1 In the Other Atlases
- Also in Geography Atlas: Europe, found in there.
Sources
1. Wine fraud (Wikipedia)
Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wine_fraud, lead paragraph
Wine fraud relates to dishonest behavior in the commerce of wine.
Wikipedia, Notable cases section, Rudy Kurniawan
he was arrested on March 8, 2012 and indicted for fraud. Allegedly, Kurniwan was buying large stocks of negociant Burgundy and re-labeling them as more expensive wines, such as Domaine de la Romanee-Conti.
Wikipedia, History section, medieval Germany
the penalty for selling fraudulent wine ranged from branding to beating to death by hanging
Wikipedia, History section, national wine definitions
The French government first legally defined wine as the product of fermented grape juice in 1889, followed by the German government in 1892 (later expanded in 1909) and the Italian government in 1904.
View the Source Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.