CHINA HAS OFFICIALLY RECOGNIZED THE BORDEAUX DENOMINATION, BUT THE COUNTERFEIT WINE ISSUE IS NOT DIMINISHING. THE FIGHT NEEDS TO MOVE FROM THE LEGAL TO THE CULTURAL LEVEL TO DEFEAT THIS PLAGUE

Counterfeiting, in a sector such as wine, is still one of the worst plagues, especially when it comes to fine French wines and the Chinese market. China has recently recognized the Bordeaux denomination, but the number of fakes in circulation is so high that it discourages even the director of the Conseil Interprofessionnel des Vins de Bordeaux, Fabien Bova, who told "Vitisphere" (www.vitisphere.com): “we should stop revealing data on counterfeiting, since there is no real evidence of numbers and it only hurts us”.
It is also true that “there are no official statistics on what”, as James de Roany, former President of the Commission Vins & Spiritueux of the French Council for Foreign Trade pointed out, “is obviously illegal, while assessments are made continually but the phenomenon has not at all improved in recent times”.
This is the reason the Commission Vins & Spiritueux has stopped publication of the latest report on counterfeit wines and spirits. The decision reveals the difficulties French producers have in understanding the dynamics of a country like China, where, as James de Roany explained, “you cannot expect to solve the problem facing it from a legal point of view only. The biggest obstacle is cultural - the Chinese do not understand the concept of terroir. They conceive wine as we conceive the Lacoste brand, as something that can be produced anywhere. If we cannot make them comprehend the importance of territory for individual productions and their uniqueness, the problem of counterfeiting will never be solved”.