Was it fake wine? Gallo awaits French court ruling

NEW YORK (Reuters) - E. & J. Gallo, the largest family owned winery in the United States, said on Friday it is waiting for a French court and U.S. regulators to decide if its Red Bicyclette Pinot Noir is the real deal.

Thirteen people including executives from two wineries, five cooperatives, negociant Ducasse and conglomerate Sieur d'Arques, were charged this week with selling millions of dollars worth of fake Pinot Noir to E. & J. Gallo, the wine magazine Decanter reported in its online editions.

"Our contractual agreement with our supplier guarantees all wines supplied meet French regulations including the Pinot Noir in question," Susan Hensley, a spokeswoman for the California based winery said in an email on Friday.

"At this time it is still a question for the French courts and French and U.S. regulatory authorities to determine whether the wine in question was misrepresented to us," she said.

The arrests followed an investigation that lasted more than year, the online magazine reported.

Between 2006 and 2008, Sieur d'Arques allegedly sold 135,000 hectoliters (3.57 million gallons) of wine labeled Pinot Noir, but was actually wine made from much less expensive grapes, according to decanter.com.

Gallo paid about 4 million euros (roughly $5.4 million in today's dollars), the online magazine reported.

Calls to the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) for additional information were not returned.

According to Gallo's winemaking notes, the 2007 Red Bicyclette Pinot Noir was sourced from several areas within the Languedoc Roussillon region in Southern France. The notes describe the wine as showcasing "dark fruit aromas and flavors of black cherry and ripe plum."

"When more information becomes available to us from the authorities," Gallo's Hensley wrote, "we will move quickly to ensure that the trust people place in our company and our wines is not put at risk."

(Reporting by Leslie Gevirtz; Editing by Toni Reinhold)