Revenge of the birds.
On several occasions over the years, my wife and I have house hunted in France. Sometimes it was just curiosity; before our children were born, we could take leisurely holidays, and we’d sometimes view an interesting looking property advertised in the window of one of the area’s local real estate agencies. And there’s been, as well, some serious real estate hunting trips. When we’re serious about it, and there’s definitely going to be some negotiating, my wife always gives me the same instructions: “Don’t forget to keep your mouth shut.”
It isn’t that she’s afraid I’d commit some major cultural faux pas, or that I would bungle the negotiations. The problem was my accent. And it wasn’t that they might not be able to understand it. No, the problem invariably is that, as soon as they hear my American accent, they get a cha-ching-here’s-J.R.Ewing look in their eyes, and any chance of negotiating down the price disappears as fast as you can say “Dallas.” I guess it’s the fault of G.I.s who handed out chocolate bars and nylon stockings to war-impoverished French after World War II, kicking off the rich-American legend. The same thing also happens at brocantes that we attend. My wife can go up to a stand and ask the price of something in her perfect French accent. I’ll go up to the same stand shortly afterward and before I can get “Excusez-moi” out of my mouth the price has doubled.
Too bad that the E. & J. Gallo wine people didn’t have my wife along when they went to negotiate with the big Languedoc wine producer Sieur d’Arques, which has been supplying the wine over the past three years sold by Gallo in the U.S. as Red Bicyclette wines. My wife would have told the Gallo representatives to have just kept their mouths shut and let a real French person do the negotiating. Such blunt, but sage, advice might have kept them out of a scandal, involving the supposed purchase of Pinot Noir wine, that now involves both France’s anti-fraud commission (the DGCCRF) and the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco, Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB).
La Dépêche, a regional newspaper in the south of France, first broke the story by reporting that local gendarmes in Carcassonne, along with the DGCCRF, were alerted by inspectors who had noticed a discrepancy between local wine production figures and export figures for the Aude department in the Languedoc. Between 2005 and 2008, the Aude was exporting 160 million bottles worth of Pinot Noir annually. The only problem is that the entire Languedoc only produces 67 million bottles worth of Pinot each year.
The 13 French defendants include executives from two wineries and five cooperatives, as well as the wine negociant Ducasse and Sieur d’Argues. Only the latter denied the charges filed at the early February arraignment of the accused before a three-person tribunal in Carcassonne. As reported on Decanter.com, “The executives from Sieur d’Arques maintain they were unaware the wine they were selling to their American client was not Pinot Noir, even though [according to French public prosecutor Francis Battu] one of their own winemakers admitted it.”
Even more amazing than the gullibility of the Gallo folk is the enormous mark-up on wine purchased and repackaged for sale in the U.S. Cheaper Vin de Pays d’Oc (vin de pays is above “table wine” but below AOC wines) varieties sell for 70-75 euros per hectoliter (approximately 130 bottles of wine). Pinot Noir from the area sells for 130-150 euros per hectoliter.
This means that Gallo was purchasing, even at the higher-priced Pinot Noir price, wine in France for around €1.15 ($1.60) a bottle that is being retailed in the U.S. for around 12 bucks a bottle. Value-priced Pinot Noir Red Bicyclette is definitely taking people for a ride.
French prosecutor Battut has recommended maximum fines and jail terms for the accused: a year in prison and a fine of €40,000 ($54,750) for broker Claude Courset of Ducasse; €180,000 ($246,000) against Sieur d’Arques; and various fines and terms (some suspended) for the others. French customs, too, has demanded symbolic fines of €750 ($1,025).
More than the fines, the real damage by the gang that couldn’t shoot straight (La Dépêche quoted one of the accused as having said that had the suppliers “been asked to put Yoplait on the label, they would have” in order to satisfy customer demand) is reduced confidence in French wine. It might lead to importers seeking other sources for European wine like Italy…er, no, probably not, as similar shenanigans have gone on in Tuscany with Brunello di Montalcino wines.
The Wine Spectator, in reporting about this scandal, says that “American wine buyers may start demanding guarantees from the French government.” They also report Gallo spokesman John Segale as saying that they’re “gathering all available information from governmental authorities and our supplier…”
They didn’t ask me for any advice, but besides following my wife’s suggestion to not promote foreigner’s delusions about the scope of your gullibility (Couldn’t anyone at one of the world’s largest wine companies have determined that they were buying more Pinot Noir than was being produced in the region in question?), I’d suggest the two following changes to the Red Bicyclette website. Number one, on the home page, they might consider altering the text: “Our wines are cultivated in the Languedoc-Roussillon region with Old World passion and simplicity. Loyal readers of the Vine Route will know that the “passion” word is way overused in the wine industry. And any notion of the “simple” peasant is self-delusional and certain to bring pain and probably economic repercussions to those embracing such clichés.
The second suggested change is to the Food Pairing page for Red Bicyclette Pinot Noir. To where it suggests drinking this wine “with a variety of meat and seafood dishes, from roast chicken or lamb to tuna and salmon,” I’d add that it goes well with “pigeon,” as well. To those not conversant in French, I need to explain that “un pigeon” is a colloquial French expression for “a sucker.”
And, speaking of suckers, it bears mentioning that bulk wine purchased in Europe and repackaged in the U.S. is more a branding exercise than the delivery of quality, interesting wine that reflects the terroir it’s from. If you want French wine from regions other than Bordeaux or Burgundy—wine that is good value for the money, that might have some quirks or rough edges, but that also has a certain undeniable charm, particularly in comparison to pasteurized, homogenized wine made in an “international” style, stay with American importers such as Joe Dressner of Louis/Dressner Selections, Chamber Street Wines, Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, or another reputable importer of small-producer wines that offer more than just a brand.
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Loved your “un pigeon”. Richard tells me the same thing when we are looking at
property; “keep your mouth shut”. His accent is usually mistaken
as Swiss, but there is no mistake on my accent. It is totally American. It has cost us in our current negotiations for a small vineyard. We are now trying to agree on a price because I asked a question about how many vines there were to a hectare. The reply from the seller was; ” Oh, you are American?”
Hi Peter. I remember you and Richard from our vineyard tour in the Roussillon early last year. If I remember correctly, Richard’s the terroir expert. Let me know if you do close the deal for the vineyard. I’ll come and do an article about it.
Dear Tom,
I enjoyed the article, and it is very “eye-opening” for an American wine drinker who enjoys La Bicyclette wine. When we were in Italy and enjoyed all of the good Italian wine for a very good price, and then see what they charge in the United States for the same product, it is upsetting..
Maybe La Bicyclette wine is good, Laurie. I can’t really say, as I’ve never drank any. But I do know that you can do better–for the same price or maybe just slightly more. Thanks for writing.
It takes two to tango!
Yet another reason to buy domestic…
Thanks for your comment, Vinoman. I’m no expert on the US domestic wine market (if that’s the domestic market that you’re referring to), but what I’ve read and heard seems to indicate that US winemakers are mostly interesting in producing higher-priced wine. Importing bulk wine and then repackaging it seems to be their main strategy for filling the demand for lower-priced (the $10-20) wines that people are increasingly seeking.
when reading about the fraud, I asked myself, whether they don’t have any competent tasters at Gallo, who could have noticed the difference… or did they – like most of the consumers – just read the name and the price and were so occupied by their marketing strategy – marrying “the Blue Bicycle” soap with Sideways, that the difference didn’t matter?
Did anybody find out, which grape variety was sold to Gallo for this fake – perhaps a new movie could transform it into a success… could it have been Oeuillade (clin d’oeil – twinkle) – that would be a nice title for the movie and the upcoming wine-label -
All good questions, Iris. If they are going to do a movie, I’d vote for one about an adventuresome German lady, with an attractive twinkle in her eyes, who battles Sus scrofa and other wily varmints in the Haut-Languedocto make genuine terroir wine. We’ll have to see if Meryl Streep is free to do the film.
Just to point out that the purchase price of 1,15 euros would be equate to around $1.70 for much of 2008 for example. Typical transport, duty and taxes would be around $1.50 a bottle assuming they didn’t transport in bulk and bottle in the US which would even cheaper, then with very generous 35% mark-ups at each tier in the US, importer $5.38, distributor, $8.28 finally the suggested retail price of ~ $12.74.
For years experts have been advising the French wine industry to create brands that can compete internationally. So an American company puts its marketing expertise to work and successfully creates one only and sees it blow-up due to greed.
Thanks for your comment, Greg. It’s interesting to see that the fines just handed down (€3,000 and €45,000 to two separate defendants, and €180,000 euros to Sieur d’Argues, which provided the fake Pinot Noir to Gallo), along with no jail time, don’t seem to equate the profits earned in this scam: €7m. Evidently, crime does pay in France… Your comment about French wine companies not pursuing building global brands in the low-cost wine segment is very valid. The French traditionally view marketing, branding and other activities related to commercializing a product as being vulgar and crude activities. Gallo hasn’t changed that viewpoint, even if they had the right idea in building an effective brand for low-cost Pinot Noir. They, as you pointed out, were just too greedy. I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop–say in China, where similar fake-wine schemes are now beginning to appear.