Fake French wine rampant in China

Bruno Paumard, the cellar master at a vineyard in China, can’t stop laughing while describing a bottle of supposedly French wine he received two years ago.

It’s white, with a label proclaiming it is from the vineyards of Romanée- Conti, the bottle bearing the logo that is on bottles of Château Lafite-Rothschild, and declares its origin as Montpellier, France.

Domaine de la Romanée- Conti, better known for highly prized and highly priced vintages from France’s Burgundy region, makes only a tiny amount of white wine, labelled Montrachet. It has nothing to do with the equally prestigious Lafite — from the Bordeaux region — and neither brand is produced anywhere near Montpellier.