Wednesday, December 19 2007
Sweet Nothings In Beaujolais
One lump, or two tonnes?
Adulteration, contrary to expectations, is not the journey from callow youth to experienced middle-age, but process by which something is made impure by the addition of extraneous, improper, or inferior ingredients. Food labeling and consumer protection laws forbid the adulteration of consumable products, but sometimes the law gets broken in the trample for profitability.
Wine adulteration has a long and chequered history, from the Colic of Poitu, to the Austrian Anti-Freeze Scandal, and now the great Beaujolais Sugar Debacle. According to European news sources, police have arrested five people in connection with a scheme to add tonnes of sugar to wines made in the Beaujolais region of France. I blogged last month about the arrival of Beaujolais Nouveau but I was kind enough not to mention that in addition to declining sales, they've had a few disappointing years recently, when it has been too cold to fully ripen the grapes to achieve maximum sugar levels.
As a matter of course Beaujolais producers are allowed to add a certain amount of sugar to their wines to ensure they will have enough alcohol to preserve them (yeast converts all of this sugar to alcohol during fermentation). While quite generous, these sugar additions are controlled by legislation.
During bad years, however, producers added more sugar, not just to drive alcohol levels, but also so they could stretch the volumes of their wine, and increase profitability. According to the UK Telegraph
Police suspect up to 100 growers or co-operative members of purchasing almost 600 tons of sugar and using it to raise alcohol levels above official limits.
France's Beaujolais region is home to more than 2,500 wine producers and 12 different appellations
They are also suspected of exceeding wine volume quotas and selling the extra bottles on the black market.
The investigation is the latest blow to the region - hit by a recent scandal involving mixing wines and accusations of favouring quantity over quality.
Police arrested five people earlier this month who reportedly admitted to having transported and sold the sugar in northern Beaujolais between 2004 and 2006.
Other sources state that grocery stores outside the Beaujolais region sold sugar off the books, and failed to provide receipts, colluding with the winemakers to conceal the origin of the illegal sugar.
The moral of this story? There's not really much to go on: while this adulteration didn't technically harm anyone, it is a case of consumer fraud. When corporate profits are considered the highest virtue of a business, sometimes people will take shortcuts with their ethics and their products--and that's just sad.
Maybe the best lesson to take away is to choose wine from a producer you trust. Of course, if you're making your own wine, then that's an easy one!
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