THERE ARE NO RHÔNE WINES FROM MOËT

FOR THE RECORD, Moët Hennessy does not produce any wine from the Rhône.  Therefore it was surprising for the company to learn that a Chinese wine company was selling Rhône wines it claimed were made by Moët Hennessy.  The wines in question, purported to be Côtes du Rhône, were being distributed by a company called Shanghai Haotuo International Trading Company Ltd based in Beijing’s Fengtai District, and each wine bore a back label stating it was made by Moët Hennessy, using its trademarked Chinese name.  Parent company Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy filed a complaint and the Beijing Administration for Industry and Commerce raided the counterfeit operation.  According to the report, police found more than 5OO bottles of counterfeit wines with labels saying they are produced by Moët Hennessy.  One particular wine, described as the “most treasured bottle in the store” claimed to be a 2OO7 Côtes du Rhône Sablet, but its back label said it’s made by Moët as well.  The price tag was a staggering US$15,121.  In a Chinese statement by Moët Hennessy, the company reiterated that it “under no circumstances” had granted any right to use its company name, and the products are not produced by them.  This is the latest case taken by Moët to crack down on counterfeit wines using its branded names.  Previously the company won a court case against wine auction house Acker Merrall & Condit concerning a counterfeit bottle of Krug Collection 1947.