The judgment pronounced by the Bordeaux Court of Appeal is unprecedented in the Bordeaux wine industry. During a closed-door hearing on October 27, Bordeaux wine merchant Vincent Lataste was sentenced to one year in prison and a fine of 30,000 euros, including 20,000 euros suspended, while his company, Sequoia , renamed Awesome, will have to pay a fine of 100,000 euros, including 50,000 euros suspended.
Mr. Lataste and his company are sentenced for “Deception, attempted deception on the substantial qualities of wines, fraudulent use and attempted fraudulent use of PDO (protected designation of origin) “. For the same facts, Mr. Lataste was sentenced at first instance, in June 2019, to six months in prison and the same fine against him. His company had been ordered to pay 150,000 euros in fines, 100,000 of which were suspended.
At the end of the judgment, Mr. Lataste’s lawyer, Mr.e Jean Gonthier, lodged an appeal in cassation, arguing that his client and his company “Contest on the one hand the legality of the investigation carried out by the administration, which disregarded the rights of the defense, on the other hand the very constitution of the offenses prosecuted, both in their materiality and their intentionality”. He adds that they “Have the firm hope that the Court of Cassation will exercise its censorship and allow them to be retried. As it stands, they continue to benefit from the presumption of innocence ”.
Already experienced unfavorably
The case began in 2015. The National Institute of Origin and Quality (INAO) carried out, as part of a routine check, the analysis of batches of wines marketed by the company Sequoia, located in Cadillac (Gironde), south-east of Bordeaux. “A classic control, within the framework of the respect of the specifications relating to the designations of the control plans, during which we carry out analytical and organalytic checks of the wines”, specifies Laurent Fidèle, regional delegate of the INAO for the South-West.
More than 10,000 such inspections are in fact carried out each year throughout the Gironde department. During this check, the analysis reveals an excessive sulfur dioxide content in the wine (SO2). According to the judgment, the content was “More than 90 micrograms per liter above the maximum of 150 milligrams per liter authorized for dry red wines”. This then makes it “Unfair and merchant”, continues Laurent Fidèle, for batches intended for export, mainly to China.
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