Worldcrunch NEW BITES
SHANGAI – China’s unmatched counterfeiting skills seemed to reach a new peak with the recent discovery of an entirely fake Apple Store in Kunming. But other shady salesmen are now taking the faking in another high-end direction: the counterfeiting of vintage French wines.
Industry experts says more and more “French wine,” whose actual origins are yet to be determined, is being sold in Chinese supermarkets. The products are blended with sweet water, coloring and even artificial flavors. Still they are listed under the name of “Vin de Bordeaux.”
Some have even been sold under the name of a prestigious 30-year-old vintage wine. “There are more bottles of 1982 Chateau Lafite in China than were ever produced in France,” quips Romain Vandevoorde, a Beijing-based wine importer. In other instances, unscrupulous salesmen sell ordinary French Bordeaux at a tremendously high price usually reserved for Grands Crus Classés.
Wine is growing in popularity in China, hand in hand with the country's expanding economy. Last year, Hong Kong and China represented the leading destinations for Bordeaux wines.
Read the full original article in French by Julie Desné
Photo - antociano
