I guess it had to happen sooner or later, but you would have expected the first people to counterfeit Grange to make a better fist of it! An eye as experienced as Stuart Langton’s had little difficulty in observing several rather unusual features associated with six bottles of what was allegedly Penfolds Grange 1990 when they were presented for auction. Not only was the bar code the wrong colour, but a couple of ripper typos really gave the game away to our hawk-eyed auctioneer. The bar codes for the genuine 1990 Grange are red in colour, but our intrepid counterfeiters mucked up badly and printed it black! Furthermore, they’re clearly wanting a basic wine education, and fast. Instead of accurately reproducing the phrase ‘pour the wine’ on the back label, the would-be Granges suggest the user ‘poor the wine’. Sink me! If you’re going to counterfeit Australia’s most valuable wine, can’t you do it better than that?? Although Southcorp spokesman David Combe says Penfolds has found no less than ten packaging discrepancies in the pretender bottles, he recommends people to check any bottles of 1990 Grange offered for private sale. According to Mr Combe, Southcorp will redouble the energies it is directing towards ensuring the authenticity of its premium red wines. Meanwhile Stuart Langton not only believes these to be the first fake Granges to cross his threshold, but represent the very first attempt to counterfeit Grange. It still makes you wonder. With prices of 1990 Grange now floating around the $500 mark, I’d be checking any recent purchase. If you discover a counterfeit Grange in your collection, please call Southcorp Wines on 1300 651 650.
