Fraud is still an enemy of the Midi, it seems. The cause for the great riots of 1907 has proven to be as persistent as a herring . One of the Midi’s largest winemaking cooperatives has met with problems in the Chinese market, where they have been victims of large-scale fraud. Mont Tauch is one of the region’s stars and is responsible for much of the AOC Corbieres and Fitou which we see in the UK market today. It has been active in China since 2007, with steady growth in its sales showing the investment to be a shrewd one.
When rumours began to spread of ridiculously cheap prices, however, authorities were spurred to begin an investigation into the odd market performance. It emerged in February of this year that Chinese counterfeiters have produced some 400,000 bottles of wine which claimed to be AOC Fitou. Although both the bottles and labels bear the logos of the Cooperative and their respective trademarks, the liquid within the bottle was not what it claimed to be. It seems that the liquid within the bottles was actually a very cheap South American wine of greatly inferior quality.
The forgeries were thought to be of good quality and only came to light during a meeting between Mont Tauch representatives and a customer. Nevertheless, authorities feel that they have stopped the flow of counterfeits and that customers in China can once again buy with confidence.
The impact on Mont Tauch’s Chinese business is not thought to be crippling, yet this goes to show the difficulty which fraud can pose. It does seem odd that the South is particularly prone to such forgeries and only strengthens the calls of Southern winegrowers to ensure that regulatory measures ensure wines are genuine and sales are legitimate. As one of my favourite wineries, it seems even more of a shame that such high quality wines were targeted. Nevertheless, now that the problem has been solved Chinese consumers can begin to enjoy some Southern French produce.
Often the ghosts of 1907 haunt the Midi in a negative sense, yet this event goes to show that their story is still relevant to the growers of today. The strict measures employed by the Midi winegrowers to prevent fraud are as important as ever, especially at a time when the Midi’s star is on the rise.
