Last week, TTB issued an industry circular (Industry Circular Number 2017-3) that cancels a declaration requirement with respect to Pinot Noir wines from the Languedoc-Roussillon Region of France. The 2017 industry circular supersedes Industry Circular 2010–5, Pinot Noir from the Languedoc-Roussillon Region of France, which required importers of wines naming Pinot…
Category: Wine Fraud
The Rudy Kurniawan Sentencing and the Wine Label Certification Statement
On Thursday, August 7, 2014, Indonesian wine collector Rudy Kurniawan was sentenced to ten years in prison by U.S. District Judge Richard Berman. Mr. Kurniawan is purported to have swindled more than $20 million worth of fake wine that he allegedly created in his California home and later sold to collectors….
Argiano, Italian Wine Producer, Acquitted in Brunello di Montalcino Trial
During my last semester of college, I was fortunate to take a restaurant management class that acquainted me with a completely new area of law. My professor assigned an article from The New York Times about the alleged fraudulent production of Brunello di Montalcino using grapes other than the Sangiovese varietal. (Read…
Third Time’s a Charm: William Koch Back in Court for Another Counterfeit Wine Lawsuit
William Koch, billionaire and avid wine collector, is back in court for yet another wine lawsuit—but this one is completely unrelated to our two prior entries discussing Mr. Koch’s lawsuits. In this suit, Mr. Koch is suing Eric Greenberg, a businessman and the alleged seller of counterfeit wine. Koch purchased…
Criminal Law, Constitutional Law, and Litigation in the Context of Wine and the Law
The last week presented three very different stories in the context of wine the law, ranging from criminal law to constitutional law issues. The most pertinent are summarized below. On the wine law docket for the week of January 14, 2013: Chateaux Commence Legal Action Against St. Emilion Classification: This…
Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Dismisses Koch Wine Suit on Statute of Limitations
Last year, On Reserve posted an article about the suit brought by Koch against Christie’s in a New York federal district court. New York District Court Judge, Honorable Barbara Jones, granted the motion to dismiss of the auction house Christie’s and dismissed the suit against the acclaimed auction house. In…
UK and EU Wine Law
Wine laws have existed in Europe for several centuries. One of the oldest wine laws in Europe was created by Reichstag in the Holy Roman Empire in 1498 to combat wine fraud. In the mid-nineteenth century, during the Great French Wine Blight, an overwhelming abundance of wine fraud due to…
New York Federal Court Dismisses Koch Wine Fraud Suit Against Christie’s
A New York District Court Judge, Honorable Barbara Jones, granted the motion to dismiss of the auction house Christie’s and dismissed the suit against the acclaimed auction house. William Koch, billionaire and avid wine collector, filed suit against the auction house last year claiming Christie’s “induced” him to buy a…
South Africa: Couple in Court on Wine Fraud Charges
A South African couple has been brought up on charges with respect to a claim on wine fraud. Kobus Terblanche, a former DGB executive (DGB is one of South Africa’s largest independent wine and spirits producers and distributors), and his wife had their passports seized upon their return to South…