Oeno launches fine wine anti-fraud unit

Fine wine investment firm Oeno has launched its own in-house anti-fraud unit to inspect every bottle that it handles.

The unit will be led by Mattia Tabacco and will carry out thorough checks on each and every bottle the company handles, checking the glass, capsules, cork and labels against a “comprehensive” database using professional-grade tools.

Tabacco said: “After a year of intensive research and development, Oeno has achieved an industry-first with the launch of our Anti-Fraud Unit. Our stringent certification process incorporates techniques developed by leading wine fraud experts over the globe.

“We have made it our mission to give our clients complete peace of mind with every investment they make with us, as well as committing to fighting wine fraud to make the wine industry a safer place for everyone.”

Bottles that have passed their authentication will be given a unique numbered label which cannot be removed. The company has offices in London, New York, Bordeaux and Siena through which it sources fine wine for its customers.

Provenance and authenticity have become even more vital to the fine wine secondary market in recent years as trade in fine wines has increased and with it pricing.

Fake wines have dogged the upper end of the market for decades and spawned some of the more scandalous wine episodes of recent years. The most notorious of course concerns Indonesian-born fraudster Rudy Kurniawan who was sentenced to 10 years in prison on multiple counts of fraud by a court in New York in 2012.

He is being released this week, furthermore, and it is likely he stands to be deported from the United States.

For more information on Oeno Group’s anti-fraud unit, click here.