Again, Australian wine has been linked with investment difficulties. Only five years since the spectacular crash of Heritage Fine Wines and Wine Orb comes news from London of an alleged $5 million scam in which investors paid sums over $165,000 (on the basis of a cold call according to UK wine correspondent Jim Budd) for wines that simply did not exist. The website (since taken down) of Nouveau World Wines claimed all its wines to have been ‘sourced through out (sic) wine regions across the new world market, namely Australia, Argentina, California, Chile, South Africa and New Zealand. Each vine yard (sic) comes with a good trading history in fine wine. The wines are mostly stored in reputable bonded warehouses in perfect storage conditions or stored at the original point of production within in the vine yard (sic). Most wines are available in original wooden cases unless stated.’ Except they were not, since apparently they weren’t real. Six people have been arrested in connection with this scam, the nature of which ‘is becoming far too common’ according to the Metropolitan Police. Budd also poses the notion in advance of the highly anticipated 2009 Bordeaux en primeur campaign that this very vehicle, which involves payment for wine two years in advance of receiving it, is a ‘brilliant bespoke vehicle for potential fraud’.
