Didier Chopin, 56, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for selling hundreds of thousands of bottles of fake champagne he made with French and Spanish wines, to which he added aromas and gas to make them sparkling.
  • elucubra@sopuli.xyzEnglish
    4·
    3 days ago

    Spain produces a lot of high quality wine, but also a lot of lower quality wine, used for mixing to make cheap “table” wine. Much of that is exported, often in cartons.

    Many French winemakers have been importing that type of wine for decades to mix to increase volume in lower quality wines.

    • pousserapiere@lemmy.worldEnglish
      4·
      3 days ago

      Could have been but it’s actually more than that: he produced fake champagne on purpose, using wines from Spain, carbonated it and added flavour packs. He then marketed it as champagne and even attempted to export it. Once caught, he fled to Morocco to start a new business.

      Real Champagne actually follow a lot of rules besides the protected origin, it’s a blend of wines but it’s not supposed to be carbonated, and flavor balance is to be made only with specific liqueurs.