The head of a large French wine producer has been
arrested for allegedly blending other white wines into its Chablis for
over a decade.
For at least 10 years Jean-Claude Fromont, CEO of Maison Fromont, is, French news site
Le Journal du Centre explained: “suspected of having sold, under the Chablis label, wines from other regions.”
Based in Ligny-le-Châtel in the Yonne,
Maison Fromont
was founded in 1972 as a Chablis producer and négociant but quickly
expanded its vineyard holdings to include Burgundy, the Loire,
Beaujolais, the south of France and the Rhône.
The fraud is said to have taken place between 2004 and 2014 and as
well as cutting the estate’s Chablis with wines from Fromont’s other
vineyards in the Rhône and Provence, may also include doctoring some AOC
wines from those regions with other wines. The ultimate scale of the
fraud is not currently known.
Also investigated on suspicion of complicity in the scam were a
haulier company which apparently transported the vats of wine and the
domaine’s cellar master.
Frédéric Guégen, president of the Federation of Defence of the
Appellation Chablis told the paper he was “frightened” of the damage
that could be wrought on the region’s image if the allegations turned
out to be true.
Source:
www.thedrinksbusiness.com
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