Wine fraud

Wine Fraud

For as long as wine has been made, it has been manipulated, adulterated, and counterfeited. In ancient Rome, Pliny the Elder complained about the abundance of fraudulent Roman wine which was so great that even the nobility could not be assured that the wine they were pouring on their table was genuine. For the poor and middle class of Rome, local bar establishments seemed to have an unlimited supply of the prestigious Falernian wine for unusually low prices.

Sadly, the practice continues to exist today, more recently bought into the spotlight the movie “Sour Grapes”- American crime documentary about wine fraudster Rudy Kurniawan. Incensed by this story, we were keen to understand how we could identify a potential counterfeit wine to protect the interests of our buyers. That’s when we joined the Wine Fraud global community.

Our membership to WineFraud.com ensures that we are up to date with breaking international news of wine thefts, bad sources of wine and discovered frauds. Wine provenance is dear to our heart which is why we are New Zealand’s first accredited member of WineFraud.com.