French wine scam effects Pinot Noir

Are your taste buds good enough to distinguish between Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon or between Pinot Noir and Syrah? I don’t believe that I can always distinguish between certain varietals, but it is nice to be able to take a blind taste of a wine and then look at the bottle to find out exactly what I just tasted. Well, at least that is what I used to believe — that is until Red Bicyclette scandal hit the market.

Red Bicyclette is a label owned by E&J Gallo, and produced using bulk wine that is made in France and imported into the United States by Gallo. In February, a French court found that at least 12 individuals were guilty of selling millions of bottles of Red Bicyclette Pinot Noir that had been illegally watered down using Merlot and Syrah. The court suspended jail time for these people and ordered fines ranging from $3,500 up to $230,000. According to the prosecutors, the scam had netted more than $9 million dollars in profit for the French firms that were involved.

I should start by saying that E&J Gallo had no knowledge of what the French suppliers were doing between 2006 and 2008 to the wine that was being purchased for Red Bicyclette. E&J Gallo Winery is the largest family owned winery in the United States and in addition to the Gallo labels, they own and/or distribute wines such as Louis M. Martini, Rancho Zabaco, Turning Leaf and Barefoot Wine.

Red Bicyclette sells for about $10 a bottle and their current release of Pinot Noir — the 2008 vintage — is listed on its website as being a blend of 86 percent Pinot Noir, 7 percent Syrah and 7 percent Merlot from the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France. But this wasn’t always the way the winery labeled this wine. The 2005 vintage was listed as being one hundred percent Pinot Noir. The 2006 vintage was labeled as being a blend of 85 percent Pinot Noir, 10 percent Grenache and 5 percent Syrah — but was actually much more diluted than that.

It is much more expensive to make a Pinot Noir wine than a Merlot or a Syrah because the Pinot varietal has very thin-skinned grapes that require gentle handling in the winery.

In addition, generally the winery keeps the crop smaller in order to allow the grapes to fully ripen, resulting in more costs. Then on top of the expenses of making this wine, in late 2004, the movie “Sideways” was released and it made Pinot Noir quite popular causing a much higher demand and, as a result, an increase in the retail price.

It is difficult to find a very good inexpensive Pinot Noir today that truly contains the traditional flavors of this varietal. Adding Merlot and Syrah to the Pinot Noir certainly has an impact on the taste of the wine.

During court proceedings, one French defense attorney brashly claimed that not a single American complained about the quality of the wine. To the contrary, most do not make a repeat purchase of a wine does not taste as well as expected.

Jim Rawe, a family attorney in Bradenton, is an avid collector of fine wines. His column appears weekly. He can be reached at jimrawe@gmail.com.