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Award-winning journalist and author Rebecca Gibb (42) recently wrote an extensive study on the history of wine counterfeiting. As someone who holds the Rare Master of Wine qualification, the subject of wine is particularly close to his heart. In an interview with Blick, the Englishwoman takes us into the dark subject of wine crimes.
Blick: In your new book “Vintage Crime,” you explain exactly what counts as wine. How has the definition of wine evolved over time?
Rebecca Gibb: There was no legal definition of wine in France until the end of the 19th century. If there is no definition of wine, how can laws be created to prevent people from adulterating wine? Even the Roman texts of Cato and Pliny distinguished between real and artificial wine, but definitions were often subjective depending on your position in society and whether you were a producer, seller or drinker; This is also the case today. For example, do you think mulled wine or sangria is wine?
Your book mentions some clever wine scammers. Is there a story or character that particularly touched you?
Hardy Rodenstock, a former pop band manager and collector and dealer of rare wines who was once described as the world’s most enviable wine hunter, is said to have discovered a cache of the finest 18th-century Bordeaux bottles at an undisclosed location in Paris in 1985. . The bottles bore the initials of Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States. These were sold for record sums by Christie’s auction house and other famous wine dealers. However, Rodenstock’s reluctance to disclose the location of the find led experts to state that the wines could not be genuine and that repeated tests showed they were fakes. Spanning over two decades, this story is about lies and deception, false trust, and a disgruntled billionaire on a quest for revenge.
Can you share some of the most shocking examples of wine fraud you uncovered during your research?
For me, the heavy metal lead was the most shocking addition to wine in the last two thousand years. Many opportunities were missed to prevent lead from poisoning wines, including a papal bull in 1498 and a government ban in Germany’s Neckar Valley in the 1690s. However, it was not until 1996 that lead-containing capsules were banned from being placed in wine bottles. Also be careful with leaded crystal decanters if you want to prevent your wine from leaking harmfully.
Wine is often associated with luxury and originality. How does your book challenge these concepts and what does it reveal about the dark side of the industry?
The idea of originality is very vague. What does it mean to make an authentic wine? This is a very subjective question. Does it make a wine more authentic if it complies with wine laws because the contents of the bottles comply with local rules established decades ago? Therefore, wineries whose origin is not officially stated or not compatible, including Sassicaia and Domaine Didier Dagueneau, are no less original. Is authentic wine wine produced only from a single vineyard and a single grape variety? If so, many of the world’s most famous wines are not original. Does using commercial yeast or adding sulfur dioxide to combat bacteria and oxidation reduce the wine’s authenticity? Yes, in the eyes of nature. But not for most of us.
What are the key features or indicators our readers can look for to spot fake wine bottles?
There are now so-called wine authenticators who can check the contents of wine cellars, and they can be used with holograms, special signs, etc. They can attend wine authentication courses to learn how to check wine labels. But for the average wine drinker, it’s simple: buy from a reputable vintner who buys wines directly from the winery, check the label. Is wine spelled correctly? You may laugh, but a lot of Lafee (not Lafite) and Benfold (not Penfold) are sold in China. They should also be relieved to see that the reasons for wine adulteration are no longer a thing of the past: When they buy a bottle of wine, they can usually be assured that it does not taste like vinegar or sour grapes and does not contain herbs, spices or illegal substances. Additives are needed to mask unpleasant aromas.
So, were some wine counterfeiters well-intentioned and aiming to make the wine better?
Counterfeit wines generally had no intention of harming consumers; they were only used to sweeten a sour wine or to mask unpleasant aromas. Sometimes additives (lead, glycol or methanol) can have harmful effects on health. Later, such wine scams emerged due to their harmful effects. However, the most common wine-related fraudulent activity was enrichment rather than adulteration.
Can you tell us about current developments in the world of wine counterfeiting?
Since Rudy Kurniawan’s trial and imprisonment in the US, both winemakers and wine retailers have admitted they need to do more to stop fraudsters. High-end winemakers have adopted everything from QR codes on labels to hologram stickers, custom bottle engravings, bottle-specific shapes, and even chip-like devices that break when you pull the cork. This means consumers can determine whether bottles have been previously opened and therefore fraudulently refilled. Since finishing the book, I have been contacted by several new anti-fraud tech companies, including New Zealand-based Oritain, which can test whether wine comes from a particular vineyard. They claim that using forensic science, each vineyard has its own fingerprint and by testing a wine sample they can verify whether the wine is what it claims to be. There is also a Lyon-based start-up called M&Wine, which has a database of 13,000 mineral wine fingerprints and AI models. The system should be able to identify the country, region, main grape variety and year of the wine. I can’t wait to try it!
Your book appeals to both wine lovers and people who don’t know much about wine. How did they strike a balance between making content accessible to a wide audience?
I’m a total wine lover. I love the subtleties of wine, but I also realize that 99 percent of wine drinkers don’t care about soil types or yeast strains. Many wine books are read only by wine experts because they are too educational. We try to teach rather than entertain. I want people to enjoy reading about wine; Reading a wine book shouldn’t be a hassle, and I hope that reading my book will bring both shock and pleasure.
To conclude our conversation: How familiar are you with Swiss wine?
Unfortunately, I must admit that I know very little about Swiss wines. I could probably list the main regions but the Swiss wine country was not on the Master of Wine curriculum when I was studying so I may have missed it. We apologize to all of Switzerland! But you are very peaceful people and so I hope you will forgive me.
Source : Blick
I am Dawid Malan, a news reporter for 24 Instant News. I specialize in celebrity and entertainment news, writing stories that capture the attention of readers from all walks of life. My work has been featured in some of the world’s leading publications and I am passionate about delivering quality content to my readers.
