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Five people suspected of involvement in the supply of the sugar, including
a truck driver and a retired wine grower, were taken in for questioning
last week by police according to a Decanter report. They were questioned
about the sugar supply and a number of delivery points in Beaujolais have
been identified.
Up to this point the investigation had focussed on the providers of the
sugar, which is thought to have been purchased in a neighbouring district
known as department in France, and then transported back to Beaujolais
for resale.
The first discovery in the case was made three years ago, during the
2004 harvest period, when large amounts of sugar were found to have been
purchased, without receipts, from a supermarket in Rhone, outside the
Beaujolais region.
One of the 2004 sugar deliveries was stopped in transit by the local
fraud squad, leading investigators to the suspected network. It is thought
the same illegal sugar supply network was in operation in 2005, and the
total amount of sugar transported is thought to be about 600 tonnes.
The addition of sugar to the must is allowed under certain circumstances.
But it varies according to the vintage and is strictly controlled by the
French wine regulator, INAO (Institut National de l'Origine et de la Qualité).
The breaking of wine laws in France has become so common that one of the
readers of Decanter commented,' It's a pity that another wine fraud in
France is no surprise.'
Source: http://www.decanter.com
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