You most certainly know the expression "to put water in your wine". This phrase was first used in 1640 by Oudin, which gives it the meaning of "to moderate, recognize each other, get over his anger ". It fully applies to a Burgundy merchant…
In 1694, according to the French Academy : "It is said proverbially that a man has put water in his wine to say that he has moderated his outburst". This time, we find this expression applied in the strict sense. You certainly remember the article published on Beaux-Vins dealing with the condemnation of the company Vinovalie for making rosé by mixing white wine with red wine.
Today, It is the turn of a merchant from Morey-Saint-Denis in Côte-d´Or to go to court for falsification and deception on several thousand hectoliters of table wine. The criminal trial of SAS Corbet, specializing in wholesale wine trading concerns the wetting of 1,389 hectoliters of wine and a deception on the quality of 9,927 other hectoliters.
UFC Que Chooser takes on the case…
Master Eric Ruter, UFC lawyer Que Choisir in Côte-d´Or represents the collective interest of consumers. "They are at the end of the chain and it is they who will consume the wine. There are deceptions, and multiple offenses for which the accused is charged, including the addition of water, mixtures and especially the product advertised is not the one that is actually sold to the consumer. "
… As the defense attorney postpones it
The initial trial of this Burgundy merchant scheduled for the summer 2015 had been fired. Here, the defense lawyer pleaded the nullity of the procedure while a non-contradictory expert report suspended the investigation of this case, by causing a dilemma for the magistrates. According to Maître Michel Desilets “the Burgundy wines concerned are without Geographical Designation., that is to say the old table wines. There is therefore no interest in making a larger quantity than nature produces and no interest in saying that it is such and such a variety or not such a variety. These are really wines from France, that is to say wines that come from blends from different regions of France so I do not see the lawsuit that is being made against the company.
And the story in all of this ? Far from Burgundy…
One of the accusations relates to the wetting of the wine by the Burgundy merchant. This technique consists of adding water to the wine.
The problem of the falsification of wine began to arise with insistence at the beginning of the years 1880, at the same time as production collapses as a result of phylloxera. According to the terms of the time, wetting - or adding water to wine intended for trade - is synonymous with fraud against both consumers and the tax authorities, insofar as wines with a high alcoholic strength are imported or introduced from the countryside into the city, that we wet afterwards.
It is estimated that if the Parisian population consumes at the beginning of the years 1880 a little bit less 5 M. hectoliters of wine per year according to the statements of the grant, its actual consumption is approximately 6 M. hectoliters when taking into account the wetting. By the way, it's not just adding water : wholesale traders, in order to keep the color of the wine after wetting, add dyes of plant origin, coal derivatives. But then can we detect and therefore limit the wetting? ?
The problem with this method relates to the difficulty of identifying a wet wine after the fact and that this operation generally took place in Paris itself., after grant, at the retailer. However, this fraud poses no risk to consumers' health, except when toxic chemicals are added in order to raise the degree or keep the color.
The 26 July 1894, a law finally prohibits anchoring. The article 1 of this law affirms that "the industrial manufacture, the circulation and sale of wines made from raisins or other artificial wines are excluded from the tax regime for wines and subject to that of alcohol ", which means a much less advantageous tax for the offender.
In 1905, Senator Thévenet, rapporteur for a bill on falsification and fraud in the wine industry, specifies that "bad faith is the condition for the application of all articles of the law". The distinction is important : deception is fraud on the designation of the product, while falsification is a fraud on its composition like the practice of wetting. We only deceive if we are in bad faith.
The 29 June 1907 passed a law tending to prevent wetting of wines and excessive sugaring. According to the article 7 of this law, offenders are punished with a fine of 6000 euros and confiscation of drinks, seized sugars and glucose. The fine is doubled in the case of manufacture, circulation or holding of sugar wines or marc wines for sale. In that case, offenders are, besides, punishable by six months imprisonment ; this last penalty is doubled in the event of a repeat offense. The same penalties are applicable to accomplices of offenders.
Jean-Nicolas Mouretin
- Unusual : 500’000 liters of wine volatilized in a cooperative cellar
- Vinovalie : conviction for making rosé with red and white
- Many irregularities in the world of wine
- Wine labels underestimate the degree of alcohol
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