Wine Scams: Is My Bordeaux Real or Fake?
In hindsight this particular Bordeaux wine scam appears obvious.
The Story
Before his wedding ceremony in China's Shandong province, a husband-to-be purchased ten cases of Château Marotte Shunyilifei over WeChat. (No, we haven't heard of the château either.) The price? Around $50 per case for “fine Bordeaux”. The alcohol level seemed suspicious. Close to a stupefying 17%. One wedding guest scanned a bottle’s QR code then sounded the alarm. The code revealed a purported price of around $1,000 per bottle and a scammy Bordeaux backstory. The counterfeit bottles led Chinese police to a warehouse where Shandong's finest found a reported $46.5 million of fake Bordeaux. Busted.
Here’s the tragic part. Some scammers have worked closer to home. In 2021, according to Forbes, "a prominent Bordeaux wine merchant" named Vincent Lataste was sentenced to jail for wine fraud. His company Sequoia had apparently doctored over 100,000 bottles of Bordeaux with sulphur dioxide, water and different vintages to mask their provenance. Lataste deliberately mislabeled other bottles, many of them destined for the Chinese market.
Lataste’s lawyer called the conviction “excessively astonishing and quite incomprehensible”. Lataste, who now lives in the United States, responded by changing the name of his wine company from “Sequoia” to “Awesome”. Which will no doubt clear his reputation.
Could a scammer be working in your cellar?
We asked Wadih Riachi, head sommelier at Vintage Cellar.
“Until the 1960s, Pétrus was relatively easy to forge,” admits Wadih. Based in Pomerol on Bordeaux’s Right Bank, Pétrus is one of the world’s most sought-after — and expensive — wine estates. “So in the early 1980s,” continues Wadih, “the vineyard embossed the Pétrus bottle.” The brand’s name was scorched in raised glass above the label. “And today each case of 1, 3, 6 or 12 bottles is encircled by a guarantee band and stamped with a QR code.” There is zero chance of counterfeiting one of the world’s leading wine brands.
Vintage Cellar stocks seven magnificent Pétrus vintages from 1989 to 2015. All are sold in cases of 1 bottle from €4,200. All are certifiably authenticated.
The Real Challenge
In fact, today’s challenge for wine collection is not authentication. It’s storage. Without constant temperatures and regular checks, vintage wine (however notable its provenance) can become very expensive vinegar. Vintage Cellar avoids this pitfall by sourcing all of its wines from trusted suppliers. That means wine provenance can be traced back to the cellars of the world’s most famous domaines. After clients purchase sealed cases of Bordeaux, they will continue to be cellared and insured at a secure wine facility for a charge of 1.5% per annum. Vintage Cellar charges nothing for their wine advice. “Here’s a good example of perfect authentication and storage,” adds Wadih. “In September 2024 we marketed the third release of Château Latour’s 2009.” Each of the newly released 12,000 bottles feature back labels indicating the release date, guarantee bands and QR codes. Decanter rated the exceptional vintage at 99 points. The ability for Bordeaux’s finest châteaux to market vintage wines — ex-château — in certifiably pristine condition is key to profitability. It’s why many have invested in expanding their own cellars in recent years.
The most modern new cellars include Chaâteau Lynch-Bages. Designed by PEI Architects, who also designed the Bank of China Financial Centre in Shanghai, it launched in 2022 as a vision of glass and steel. The new cellar at Château Lafite Rothschild is set for completion in 2027.