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Authorities in China's Fujian province have discovered more than 40,000 bottles of fake Lafite and Penfolds wines in a police raid on warehouses. It is said to be one of the largest arrests of wine fraudsters in the region's history. The raid was announced as part of an "ironclad crackdown on food safety issues" by local authorities, reports Chinese wine news site Vino Joy. The value of the wines discovered is believed to be over 1.5 million US dollars. According to the authorities, the bottles were counterfeit versions of the well-known Australian wine brand Penfolds and the Bordeaux producer DBR Lafite, which among others has Château Lafite Rothschild in its portfolio. Preliminary proceedings are currently underway against the suspects.
It is not the first time that fake bottles from Penfolds have been discovered during police raids in China. In 2018, police in the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou seized 50,000 fake Penfolds bottles worth more than US$2.8 million. Last year, police in east China's Jiangsu province uncovered a fake wine production facility and seized more than 8,000 bottles of fake Penfolds wine.
(ru / Source: Drinks Business; Photo: 123rf.com)