Fraud charges rock Bordeaux

In the wake of revelations regarding an enormous false labelling scandal in the Rhône, now one of Bordeaux’s leading négociants has been caught up in a fraud suit.

Last week French prosecutors at Bordeaux’s criminal tribunal (pictured) said that Grands Vins de Gironde (GVG) committed “flagrant” wine fraud, illegally blending AOC wines with table wines and blending across AOCs, vintages and estates.

It is alleged that between 1 January 2014 and 31 December 2015, over 600,000 litres of wine, worth over €1.2 million, were blended and/or bottled incorrectly and illegally.

The deception was discovered in 2014 when, during an audit, it was found that Borie Manoux, another négociant owned by GVG’s owner the Castéja family (who also own Château Batailley), was missing 200,000 litres while GVG had somehow gained just over 200,000 litres.

Eric Marin, former director of purchasing at GVG, reportedly claimed he knew already that tanks were labelled incorrectly that day but it was only because cellar staff were too busy to change them due to the volume of wine they were handling.

An investigation by the anti-fraud agency however seemed to reveal this was not the case and said vats were being knowingly topped up with wines they should not have been such as Languedoc wines being blended with Bordeaux, table wines were ‘upgraded’ to IGP and at least one lot of Bordeaux 2011 was sold as a 2012.

Marin eventually confessed he was aware of the fraud, saying the stress of it and the pressures of the job were preventing him from sleeping.

Responsible for a cellar that produced 180 different labels, in 2014 the business had handled 20 million litres, shipping the equivalent of 18,000 cases a day.

He told the court: “In 2014 we took charge of 201,000hl of wine in bulk and sent out 199,000hl. That’s the equivalent of 1,600hl a day.

“I would say I had difficulties, from time to time, with space and time management. I had to, occasionally, commit errors in my running of the cuverie.”

He added he had had little time to learn how to handle a job of such magnitude having been rushed into the post after an accident removed his predecessor very suddenly. He claimed the management knew nothing of this activity although the prosecutor disputed this.

The defence argued that just prior to the audit GVG had plans to enlarge the winery and provide Marin with an assissant.

The prosecution has recommended fines in excess of €500,000 for both GVG and Marin. The latter, at a minimum, stands to be fined €10,000, although the maximum could be €300,000 and two years in prison, while punishment could fall rather less harshly on GVG; €500,000 being 1% of its estimated annual turnover.

A verdict is expected by 5 April.

Furthermore, this is not the only case of alleged fraud to have been perpetrated by a Bordeaux négociant which is currently being investigated.

Signes de Terre stands accused of mislabelling and illegally blending some 4,200hl (42,000 litres) of wine between 2012 and 2014 and selling it on to other négoce houses including GVG.