Fake wines: how to avoid disappointment

Fake wines: how to avoid disappointment

By David Nathan-Maister, Director of Oracle Paradis Wine Fund

Faking of wine and spirits is as old as commercial alcohol production. In the 18th and 19th century, watered down whisky and gin was adulterated with white pepper to make it taste stronger. At the end of Prohibition in the 1930’s, the US market was flooded with faked alcohol, especially cognac from Spain. Until the 1960’s, Bordeaux producers routinely added some of the darker and heavier Rhone wines to their vintages, to improve their body and appearance. 

However, in the last 10-15 years, with the growth of wine demand in China, the amount of faked wine in the market has certainly increased. This is a huge problem in China itself, but less so in more mature and sophisticated markets like Europe and the US.

Most of what you read in the general press about wine fakes is misleading, inaccurate and usually driven by a clear commercial agenda. Many powerful players in the wine industry – including the leading international auction houses, and the owners of the top Bordeaux and Burgundy estates – have a strong interest in talking up and exaggerating the prevalence of fakes.

In the case of very old wine, record keeping at time was often very poor or non-existent. Until the 1970’s, even top wine was treated like an agricultural commodity, not a luxury brand. Even Lafite, Mouton, Latour etc have incomplete records once you go back more than 30 years. So while it may be possible to say a very old bottle is “unproven”, this does not necessarily mean it is not perfectly genuine.

You are very unlikley to encounter fake wine in the supermarket, or when buying from a reputable wine merchant. It’s very hard to fake a truly high end bottle of wine, and experts are very rarely fooled (despite what you may have read). The overwhelming market for faked wine is bars and restaurants, and it’s here you are most likely to encounter it.

In bars and restaurants controls are informal or non-existent, the customer rarely sees the actual bottle for more than a minute or two, and is often distracted while doing so. A perfect market for fakes…caveat emptor!

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