The issue of counterfeit wine is very much in the news these days, and it is certainly a real concern - especially for French brands - in China.
It actually has a long history. The currently esteemed Bordeaux reds were rather pale and delicate for a very long time compared to the modern versions and it was common and accepted practice in the 19th century to blend more powerful Northern Rhône wine into the comparatively lighter reds of Bordeaux to give them more color and strength.. The resulting blend was described as "hermitagé" in keeping with the origin of the Syrah-based addition. There is evidence that, for the same reason, more potent, darkly colored wines from southern France and Algeria were also used in Bordeaux and Burgundy. In some cases, the aim was simply to sell something ordinary under a famous name. Banning such practices and assuring true authenticity of origin were the main motivations behind the laws known as Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée introduced in the 1930s. Nonetheless, there are revelations periodically of a producer who sells wine of a lesser rank as a prestigious grand cru, or uses grapes which are not permitted by the appellation laws. There are recent examples from the mid-1990's involving a famous Margaux, and, in 2006, Les Vins Georges Duboeuf, the prominent Beaujolais producer, was found to have improperly blended lesser grapes into its top wines.
It actually has a long history. The currently esteemed Bordeaux reds were rather pale and delicate for a very long time compared to the modern versions and it was common and accepted practice in the 19th century to blend more powerful Northern Rhône wine into the comparatively lighter reds of Bordeaux to give them more color and strength.. The resulting blend was described as "hermitagé" in keeping with the origin of the Syrah-based addition. There is evidence that, for the same reason, more potent, darkly colored wines from southern France and Algeria were also used in Bordeaux and Burgundy. In some cases, the aim was simply to sell something ordinary under a famous name. Banning such practices and assuring true authenticity of origin were the main motivations behind the laws known as Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée introduced in the 1930s. Nonetheless, there are revelations periodically of a producer who sells wine of a lesser rank as a prestigious grand cru, or uses grapes which are not permitted by the appellation laws. There are recent examples from the mid-1990's involving a famous Margaux, and, in 2006, Les Vins Georges Duboeuf, the prominent Beaujolais producer, was found to have improperly blended lesser grapes into its top wines.
Tuscan authorities accused well-known producers of violating laws that let them use the prestigious “Brunello di Montalcino” appellation, mainly by using unapproved, non- 100 percent sangiovese, grapes.
Interestingly, a high-status category already exists for wines made with unsanctioned grapes: Super Tuscan.
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