To Pinot or Not to Pinot…?

I couldn’t help but smile a bit at a recent article written about the big scandal over Gallo’s Red Bicyclette “pinot noir” which turned out to not be so pinot after all. Seems Gallo’s French suppliers of the supposed pinot sold them red table wine that was only partly pinot with merlot and syrah added but at a pure pinot price, more than doubling their profits.
And absolutely no one complained or had a clue until the customs department realized the pinot being exported far exceeded the total amount of wine that the region produced. Gallo was completely unaware of the scam and had nothing to do with tricking the wine public. They were duped into believing the bulk wine they purchased to be as it was touted, pure, high quality pinot noir from the Languedoc region of France.
So why would this story make me smile? Gallo marketed this wine as a wine their company was intensely involved in the making of. They referred to it as a taste of “Southern France” and wrote in detail about the vineyard the grapes were sourced from, the climate of the region and the oak aging and barrel fermentation of the wine as if Gallo wine makers had “hands on” involvement in the “crafting” of this “artisan” wine. When in fact it was actually their complete lack of involvement in the making of the wine that made it clear they were not involved in the charade! And while it is sad to hear of a lack of integrity in the wine world it does not come as any surprise. This is not the first time wine has been manipulated or misrepresented and will certainly not be the last. Nor am I surprised by the misrepresentation and the artistic license Gallo took when writing their marketing material for this particular wine. Self promotion as family owned, hands on vintners is standard practice by corporate wineries world wide.
And what turned the smile on my face to an all out grin was when I read that in their defense, the French wine makers said that the Americans with their gauche wine palettes did not even notice the difference. One attorney stated not a single American consumer complained. And this is absolutely true! Not only did no one complain, this wine won high praise from different wine judges, not only Americans mind you and was thought to be a terrific pinot for $9!
This whole debacle says so much more to me then what it looks like at face value: opportunistic business men decide to rip off an unsuspecting big corporation who will probably never know the difference. It reeks of arrogance. Arrogance too often found in the world of wine. And not just on the part of the French, but on the part of corporate wineries as well with their disingenuous, self promotion of hands on wine making not even close to what the reality is or was. It also suggests something else quite unfortunate. Americans in their all consuming quest for high quality wine at table wine prices have set up the perfect climate to be taken advantage of. A high quality pinot noir from a world class wine region would be difficult if not impossible to make and sell for under $10 and still afford a profit to the wine maker. So why not label and drink this Red Bicyclette as a fairly priced, French red table wine and enjoy! No arrogance here!