Pinot Noirgate: Gallo should have known

The recent revelation that thousands of bottles of southern French wine were "mislabeled" as Pinot Noir under the Red Bicyclette label should come as no surprise to anyone in the wine industry. From having tasted a few Pays d'Oc so-called Pinots it's a wonder to me why this revelation hasn't come out sooner

Gallo should have known. They could have easily tested the wine to ascertain its grape composition. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if a Gallo chemist probably did, subsequently informed her superiors, and then was politely told to ... um, well, er ... move on to another project. From the wine periodical Decanter:

'We believe that the only French Pinot Noir that was potentially misrepresented to us would have been the 2006 vintage and prior,' said Susan Hensley, Vice President of Public Relations.

In college hockey — okay, we're based in Minnesota — when a referee makes a bad call against the home team the student section often erupts in the chant: "Bullshit! Bullshit! Bullshit!" Should the same apply to wine PR as well?

And now Constellation Brands is fessing up to selling fraudulent Pinot too. Will wonders never cease?

More below:

• Fraud in Wine Sent to U.S. from France (New York Times)
• French plonk scam spreads to world's top wine group (Yahoo)
• It's a sad truth, but there is a lot of fake wine out there (guardian.co.uk)
• Ce n'est pas pinot noir: E&J Gallo conned into buying cheap plonk from French vineyards (guardian.co.uk)
• Carcassonne. Faux pinot prison et amendes requises (LADEPECHE.fr)
• Vin de Pays d'Oc in massive US fraud scandal (Decanter)
• Pointing fingers in Pinotgate (SFGate, San Francisco)
• Red Bicyclette Suppliers Convicted (Wine Spectator)

Meanwhile, we suggest wine lovers spend the extra bucks on real Pinot Noir, such as the beautiful renderings that come from Tulocay Winery and Stephen Ross Wine Cellars.