I recently blogged about how the Leopard’s Leap wine brand had been blatantly copied in China. This and the straight counterfeiting of the wine label is a problem faced by all successful wine exporters to the region.
Reading on Decanter.com I see that “Bordeaux first growth Chateau Margaux will incorporate an anti-fraud seal on all bottles leaving the chateau from this week.
“The strip – known as a Prooftag – runs between the capsule and the bottle, and has a reference number and a unique pattern, both of which can be tracked on Chateau Margaux’s website. Breaking the seal destroys the capsule, ensuring it cannot be used again.
“This move comes in addition to existing anti-fraud measures employed by the estate, such as a laser-etched bottle, a vintage-specific bottle mould, individually numbered and bar coded bottles and cases, and special ink used on the labels and foil.
“‘We want the right tools in place now to be able to authenticate the bottles in 30 years time,’ director Paul Pontallier told Decanter.com. ‘Once they leave the cellar, it is too late.’”.
At La Motte we are also investigating similar technology for our premium wines to ensure that consumers wishing to buy the wine can do so assured that they are buying wine made in our cellars in Franschhoek, South Africa.