In a few minutes, on June 30, the Bordeaux Court of Appeal confirmed the conviction of wine merchant Pascal Dourthe for “deceptive marketing practices” after the judgment delivered in December 2019. The deliberation confirmed a fine of 10,000 euros for Mr. Dourthe, accompanied by a second of 150,000 euros – against 200,000 euros in 2019 – against his company, the company Les Notables de Maucaillou, founded in 1983. In question, the marketing by the said company of a wine, Bordeaux de Maucaillou, became the B by Maucaillou, whose grapes did not come from this wine estate, but 55% from plots attached to the Château de Beau-Rivage, acquired in 2003, and 45% from wines purchased by the company and then aged in its Baurech cellar.
If the back label on the back of these bottles indicated “bottled for Les Notables de Maucaillou”, the information delivered to the consumer was not sufficient according to the court, and could thus make him believe that he was buying a wine from the property of Maucaillou, a great wine from Bordeaux, located in the Médoc. According to the judgment established in 2019, “ nothing in the labeling of these wines suggests that they do not come from Château Maucaillou and that they are trade wines, such that the normally informed and reasonably attentive and informed consumer legitimately expects that the “Bordeaux de Maucaillou rouge et blanc”, whose labels use the same visual codes as those of the wines “Château Maucaillou”, “numéro 2 de Maucaillou” and “Haut-Médoc de Maucaillou” also come from wines from the operation Château de Maucaillou, as are the latter ».
“It’s a collective problem”
The investigation, conducted by Dreets Nouvelle-Aquitaine (Regional Directorate for the Economy, Employment, Labor and Solidarity, ex-Direccte) following a report in 2016, gave rise to a control of State services, followed by an injunction to cease the marketing of these wines. Contesting these accusations, Pascal Dourthe had decided to refuse this decision, and the case was then taken to court. Several civil parties took part in the investigation: the Confédération paysanne de Gironde, the Fédération des grands vins de Bordeaux and the National Institute of Origin and Quality (INAO).
Dominique Techer, spokesperson for the Confédération paysanne de Gironde, criticizes the wine properties which “ defend their personal interests and are in the process of sinking a collective mark ». Because, in Bordeaux, Château Citran, Château Larrivet Haut-Brion, Château Gloria and La Tour de By were also convicted at first instance for the same practices considered misleading.
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