Cafes in Paris, France have been found to serve cheap wine posed as expensive alternatives, an investigation has revealed. Cafes and bistros in the French capital have been cheating customers, including visitors to the city, by replacing high-end wines with cheap alternatives but charging quality rates. The investigation found that wines such as premium chablis, which sell for around €9 (over £10) per glass, have been swapped with wines like sauvignon which cost around €5 (under £6) per glass.
The investigation was carried out by French newspaper Le Parisien and involved two wine sommeliers detecting when wines have been switched. The two wine experts posed as English-speaking tourists when visiting French restaurants, cafes and bistros in the city for the publication. Workers from the hospitality industry in Paris told the newspaper that the trickery was widespread, especially in districts of the city where there are many tourists.
One waitress with over 30 years of experience in restaurants told Le Parisien: “You can serve the wine you want. People don’t have the sense of taste to spot it. It can be beaujolais, Côte du Rhône, Brouilly or any other wine.
“A sommelier knows the difference but the tourist has no idea. I sometimes even empty leftover wine into one bottle for the happy hour.”
Another waiter said that he had been given orders to serve a cheaper wine to avoid opening and spoiling a more expensive bottle. He revealed: “The boss would tell us off if the most expensive bottle was going down too quickly. Only once did a customer discover the trick. He was a sommelier.”
One of the experts in the investigation, master wine merchant Marina Giuberti, instantly discovered that a sancerre at €7.50 a glass had been replaced by a cheaper sauvignon priced at €5.60 that was also listed on the menu of a venue she visited. The waiter brought her another glass of the wrong wine after she had complained.
She said: “It’s a pity for the customer and for the image of the wine appellation, for the winemaker and for the restaurant owners who do a good job. We’re in France, the home of wine. We have to give tips to the consumer.”
Experts told the French newspaper that customers should request to have their glass of wine poured from the bottle in front of them. This is required by law in Paris.
Jérôme Bauer, Alsace winemaker and leader of the National Confederation of AOC (appellation contrôlée) wine producers commented: “Cheating the customer rebounds on us, the producers, because a customer who has ordered a Côte du Rhône and gets served a Bordeaux wine will probably be disappointed and can turn away from that wine in the future.”
