Wine Fraud


Wine fraud is a fundamental problem in the wine world. Wine producers spend tremendous resources to build a brand and relationship with the consumer. Counterfeit wine infringes on the intellectual property rights of the brand and causes risk to their reputation and consumer trust.

Counterfeit wines can be defined as imitations or adulterations of legitimate products which include bottle refilling and falsification of a producer’s packaging. This fraud not only causes reputational risk, but possibly liability to the producer

Counterfeit wine does not follow food and beverage regulations and could contain toxic and harmful ingredients. Hazardous ingredients as well as unsanitary production methods could expose consumers to serious health risks.

Price — If the price is too good to be true, beware.
Packaging — If the capsule, label, cork and fill do not match, beware.
Provenance — If the wine’s history has a tall tale, beware.