French Court Tries Winemaker for Selling Counterfeit Champagne
You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. Nor can you make Champagne from still wine injected with carbon dioxide. But that’s exactly what Didier Chopin, 56, allegedly did, labeling and selling hundreds of thousands of bottles of fake Champagne from 2022 to 2023. For two days in June, a court in Reims heard charges of fraud, misuse of appellation and abuse of corporate assets. A verdict and sentence are scheduled for Sept. 2.
After leaving the courthouse, Chopin told reporters, “It’s a sad conclusion. I made a mistake, I am ruined and I have nothing more to add.”
The exact number of counterfeit bottles remains undetermined. Chopin’s initial testimony claimed “about 200,000,” but during his court appearance in Reims on June 10, he admitted to selling “500,000 to 600,000” bottles of fake Champagne. Some estimates place the total anywhere between 800,000 to 1.8 million bottles. He was first accused of this escroquerie (French for fraud) by a whistleblower employee in the summer of 2023.
Diane De Valbray, lawyer for the Comité de Champagne, the appellation’s watchdog and trade group, said, “We will never know exactly how many bottles were falsified and sold as Champagne,” since Chopin’s accounting practices were allegedly fraudulent.
According to witnesses and records, Chopin’s recipe was to buy still wines from the Ardèche and Spain, inject them with carbon dioxide and add liqueur syrup. Next, he transported the mixture to the Marne, where he bottled it and labeled it Champagne.
The scheme unraveled when former employees went to authorities in 2023. Chopin fled to Morocco and launched a new vegetable farming business there. He was then arrested by local police for writing bad checks and spent seven months in jail before being extradited to France.
Why Did Allegedly He Do It?
Champagne’s prestige is why it’s one of the original AOCs—appellation d’origine contrôlée. Its production has enjoyed protected status since June 29, 1936. Its vineyards are some of the most expensive per acre in the world. That makes it an appealing target for counterfeiters. The AOC status protects Champagne producers’ $8.1 billion global market (300 million bottles shipped annually on average). The label also mandates winemaking methods, which grape varieties can be employed and how long the wine must be aged.
Chopin’s defense centered on his relationship with Leclerc, the French-owned grocery chain, which holds the largest market share in France. He claimed they pressured him “immensely” to produce more Champagne at ever-lower prices. In his mind, counterfeiting was the only way to fulfill their orders.
“Everyone knew, everyone took part, everyone had big salaries and everyone profited,” Chopin told the court.
This dynamic of a small supplier suffering financial strain after receiving a large order is not unusual in France. When the small supplier cannot scale up production, he faces losing the order and his business. But, the court didn’t see his actions as defensible. Many Champagne producers face similar pressure. In France, price wars at big grocery stores are fierce, with some bottles of Champagne selling for less than $20.
What’s The Potential Sentence?
The prosecution has asked that Chopin be sentenced to four years in prison, three of them suspended, and €100,000 in fines. They also seek a two-year suspended sentence and €100,000 fine for his wife, who was charged as an accomplice. They’ve asked that Chopin be permanently banned from operating any wine business, that all fake Champagne bottles be seized and destroyed and that he forfeit all assets, including vineyards and financial accounts.
Chopin also faces a future trial on customs violations and faces an investigation over allegations he sexually assaulted several former employees.
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