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What It Takes to Out-Sleuth Wine Fraud

By Lettie Teague For WSJ
The first in a two-part series on wine fraud.

A FEW WEEKS AGO the French police discovered a cache of fake Côtes du Rhône wine so large it would have equaled 15% of the output of the entire appellation over almost two and a half years—had it been real. It was bulk stuff of no particular distinction, and the CEO of the company was charged with fraud. This was just the latest in a long series of such discoveries in recent years, and further proof that counterfeiters target cheap wines just as readily as grand crus. As Maureen Downey, a San Francisco-based expert on wine fraud, observed, “Fake wine hits the entire gamut of wine.”

Eager to know what a wine drinker can do to protect herself and avoid possibly lining the pockets of counterfeiters, I attended a wine fraud and authentication seminar last month run by Ms. Downey at the Four Seasons Hotel San Francisco. Attended by wine professionals and passionate amateurs, the two-day session cost $5,000 per person. It was the first such seminar Ms. Downey, proprietor of Chai Consulting, a wine collection management company, has held in the U.S. (She has held several such seminars in Hong Kong and London.)

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3 thoughts on “What It Takes to Out-Sleuth Wine Fraud”

    1. Thanks Gene for the comments. We will hook up to twitter and let you know the connection. You can always use the Free RSS feeder as described on the right side of the web page. Jimmy

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