Fine wine news

Bottles of first growth wines including Lafite Rothschild, Latour and Margaux have been sold in China under a new unfamiliar name and at a cheap price in what has become China's biggest wine smuggling case.

Sun Xitai has been jailed for life for smuggling over 70,000 bottles of wine from France, Britain and Hong Kong to China's mainland on more than 80 occasions. The total value of the scam has been valued at 45 million yuan (£4.6 million) and took place between January 2004 and December 2009.

Customs reports, seen by ShanghaiDaily.com, reveal that 27 fake company seals and invoices were confiscated, while the true value of the wines were found on invoices in Sun's office. He had set up three trading companies to carry out the crimes.

It comes after it was reported last year that China is tackling a growing market for wine fraud, with Bordeaux wine trade body the CIVB helping Chinese investigators spot illegal imports.

Posted by Brian Hughes