Top 10 stories on db.com this week

From stolen wine to a range of false claims and a new glass which is designed to prevent anti-social behaviour, these are the most popular stories on the drinks business website this week.

Last week we revealed the world’s biggest Champagne brands and this week it was the turn of spirits, as we revealed the spirits brands with the biggest global sales.

This week also saw a French website accused of selling a wine that doesn’t exist, claims of Robert Parker-branded wine cases slammed by The Wine Advocate and fake fine wine sales increasing in China.

Click through the following pages to end out our most popular stories and to make sure you haven’t missed out on this week’s key news.

10: Nicki Minaj backs Moscato brand

US rapper, songwriter and TV star Nicki Minaj has jumped on the Moscato boom in the States and become part owner of Moscato brand Myx Fusions.

Minaj said: “I’m so excited to team with Myx. I have no doubt that it will be number one.

“It’s a great tasting product that people will love. It’s not even a hard sell. Myx Fusions gives us an opportunity to revolutionise the wine industry.”

On the back of this story we also listed the top 10 songs featuring Moscato.

9: French site accused of selling Yquem 2012

An online retailer in France, 1855.com, came under fire from French newspaper Sud-Ouest, which accused the site of trying to sell Château Yquem 2012 en primeur – even though that vintage was not produced by the estate.

The president of 1855, Emeric Sauty de Chalon denied the accusation, but the paper managed to capture a page from the site, which it claimed showed that 1855.com promised customers delivery of the wine by 2015.

8: Fake fine wines on the rise in China

Instances of fake fine wines in China are on the rise, and could grow further following Beijing’s threat to impose anti-dumping tariffs on wines imported from the EU.

Now the world’s fifth largest wine consuming country, Chinese supermarkets and restaurants are under constant threat from counterfeit wines, particularly in second and third tier cities where consumers have less knowledge of fine wines.

More than half of China’s exports in 2012, some 139.5m liters, came from France, with the top names from Bordeaux that offer both bragging rights and higher profit margins tending to be the most frequently faked.

7: Rolland ‘sad’ to sell Le Bon Pasteur

Bordeaux heavyweight Michel Rolland has admitted he was sad to sell family estate Le Bon Pasteur

Bordeaux’s most prominent consultant, Michel Rolland, has admitted that he was sad to have to sell his Pomerol-based family château, Le Bon Pasteur, to a Chinese businessman.

Speaking exclusively to the drinks business at the UK launch of his new Spanish wine project – R&G – Rolland spoke of his sadness and explained the reasons behind the sale and how he will still be involved in winemaking at the château.

6: £85k of wine stolen from Château d’Yquem

Another Yquem story proved popular this week, with the news that thieves made off with £85,000 worth of Château d’Yquem after breaking into a warehouse at the renowned Sauternes estate.

According to a source close to investigators, the looters made off with 380 half bottles of the 2010 vintage, which are estimated to have a value of £85k.

5: The world’s top 10 spirit brands

After publishing the top 10 Champagne brands last week, this week we revealed the world’s biggest spirits brands based on global volume sales.

4: Wine ‘handbags’ go on sale in UK

Vernissage wine “handbags”

Having introduced the wine handbag to the US and a number of European countries last year, Swedish company Vernissage has started selling its boxed wines shaped to look like designer handbags in the UK.

Comprising a Chardonnay/Viognier blend, a Syrah/Cabernet Sauvignon blend, and a Syrah rosé, the range is made from grapes grown in the Languedoc.

3: Culture of omertà still exists in Bordeaux

One of Bordeaux’s most respected producers told the drinks business that the region still operates under a culture of omertà and that it is still a very unprofessional area in the way that it does business.

2: Wine Advocate slams branded cases claim

Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, editor-in-chief of The Wine Advocate, has slammed recent claims that Robert Parker is involved with the sale of branded wine cases.

Négociant Bordeaux Vins Selection (BVS) announced it was to release cases of wines given 100-point scores by Parker in specially designed wooden gift boxes signed by the US wine critic.

However, Perrotti-Brown dispelled the claims yesterday on The Wine Advocate bulletin board, stressing that Parker never authorised the use of his signature.

1: Glass stops anti-social drinkers looking at their phones

And the most popular story on the drinks business this week was the news that a Brazilian company has designed a glass that only stands upright when it is rested on a mobile phone.

The new chopp glass (traditional Brazilian beer serving) is meant to discourage drinkers from looking at their phones when they should be enjoying spending time with their friends.