Counterfeit Blossom Hill seized

Fake bottles of Blossom Hill have been seized by trading standards officials in Glasgow.

A complaint made by a member of the public who had bought wine from a shop alerted authorities to the problem.

Drinks company Diageo, which owns the brand, urged consumers to report suspected fakes. The white Zinfandel in question is undergoing tests to see if it is harmful.

A spokesperson for Diageo said: “Diageo Great Britain can confirm that it was made aware of counterfeit Blossom Hill product which was purchased from an outlet in Glasgow. We must stress that the liquid in this bottle labelled Blossom Hill White Zinfandel is not genuine Blossom Hill wine.

“The protection of our consumers and reputation of our brands is of paramount importance to us. As such, Diageo works closely to assist all enforcement bodies including the police, HMRC and Trading Standards as we recognise the important and valuable role they have in protecting consumers.”

East Refrewshire Council said it had spotted a number of mistakes on the labels “which pointed to the product being fake”.

These included the spelling of Great Britain as “Great Britan”.

Meanwhile in Hove, a businessman has been fined for selling fake Jacob’s Creek back in March.

Salvatore Capuano and his company Always 4 U were found guilty of four counts of breaking trademark and food safety laws.

Sixty bottles of Jacob’s Creek Semillon Sauvignon Blanc were discovered in his possession and he admitted supplying further off-licences with the products. He added that he had been supplied with 30-40 cases of the wine by a “couple of men in a van”.

They had also supplied him with a number of bottles of White Russian vodka that were incorrectly labelled.

Capuano was fined £800, ordered to pay a £15 victim surcharge and £2,000 costs. The court agreed a request from the council to destroy the counterfeit alcohol but turned down a request to revoke Capuano’s licence.