Everyone in the “Land of Freedom Fries” is more than aware that the French are snobs when it comes to their wine, their cheese, and their food. Because of this, today's news should come as no surprise: “A dozen French winemakers and traders have been found guilty of a massive scam to sell 18 million bottles of fake Pinot Noir to a leading US buyer” for the very reason that they were under the (mistaken) impression that they could get away with it.
The 12 wine producers mis-labeled and mis-represented the expensive and popular wine in exports to the United States. How they were caught is telling both for the French and for the United States wine drinkers.
In a sad statement to all of the so-called “American wine connoisseurs”, not a single American noticed the difference between the expensive brand and the fake. (This, however, is according of course to the guilty parties, who may have a very good reason to lie about the situation.)
The “Fake Wine” was spotted by French customs officials who noticed quickly that the winemakers were selling more wine from the Languedoc region than the could possibly produce and not from the American purchasers. Ooops and ouch.
The French judge ruling on the case basically said that the winemakers had placed a black mark on the entire Laguedoc region. In total, the winemakers made millions of Euros of profit.
Thank you, France, for showing us once again how easily we are duped.