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For the first time in recent history, a prominent figure in the wine trade in Bordeaux has been sentenced to one year in prison. Vincent Lataste, vintner and boss of the Sequoia wine company, received a sentence for fraud that was "unprecedented", according to the Le Monde newspaper. He was accused of mixing wines from different producers, adding water to some bottles and selling wine with labels showing the wrong year.
The fraud was uncovered during a routine check, which revealed an unacceptably high content of sulphur dioxide (SO2) in a wine, and the subsequent investigations. The various fraud offences involved 920 hectolitres of wine, corresponding to 122,000 bottles. The total amount illegally obtained is estimated at almost 200,000 euros.
The Sequoia company, which has since been renamed "Awesome", was fined 100,000 euros, of which 50,000 euros are suspended. Lataste was also fined 30,000 euros, of which 20,000 euros were suspended. He denies the charges, the legality of the investigation and the intent to defraud and has appealed the sentence. It is also considered unlikely that he will actually have to go to prison, as prison sentences of up to one year can be served in house arrest with ankle bracelets under French law.
Vincent Lataste has already been convicted in 2016 in the course of a fraud scandal as an intermediary. This involved a producer mixing his own wines with surplus wine from other wineries, which was sent for distillation.
(al / Source: connexionfrance.com; Photo: 123rf)